Brothers in Arms
by limadude120
Summary: When Minato died, he sealed the Kyuubi in both Naruto and Sasuke. Both grow up practically as brothers, sharing a close bond, a bond that is tested through the years. One is exalted, the other shunned by the village. One is a hard worker, the other a genius. Alone, they are strong. Together, they have the potential to become great legends. Not yaoi. And Itachi's still with Konoha!
1. Chapter 1: Heroes: The Beginning

**A/N: **So, I got this idea from re-watching Naruto and Sasuke's encounter after Sasuke defeats Danzo. Naruto says, what if we were in each other's places, or something like that. Minato has a new plan for sealing the Kyuubi, and Naruto ends up meeting Sasuke's family in a very different fashion from canon. I own nothing but my ideas.

CHAPTER 1 - Heroes: The Beginning

Minato looked around at all of the grim faces of the men and women in his office. He too felt the fear they felt, but none of the doubt. Looking out of the window of his office, Minato had a clear view of the battle in the distance. The orange sky, whether a manifestation of the despair Konoha felt that day or a natural sunset, was harshly lyrical. All of nature held its breath as the Kyuubi roared its challenge.

Turning back to the clan heads gathered in what was an impromptu war council, Minato shut out the feelings of despair. He was Hokage, and as such, he would act as one. They needed to accept his plan. It was the only way…

"Are you sure this will work, Hokage-sama?" A voice suddenly spoke up.

"I swear on my life." The conviction behind the blonde-haired man's words could not possibly have left doubt in the minds of the clan heads. Looking at each other, everybody in the room realized the somber truth: that this was their only chance to stop the carnage around them. Finally, Fugaku Uchiha spoke up. "But what about the second child. You said that you already had one host, your son, but what about the second host?"

Minato looked at Fugaku. His plan was bold indeed. He was planning on sealing the fox away, but in order to ensure that the hosts would be able to control the fox, he would be separating the fox's yin and yang chakra. The past Jinchuuriki of Konoha had been able to control the Kyuubi, but that was only because that they either had special chakra or kekkei genkai. His own son, Naruto, and most likely the second child, would have neither.

The only problem was, the new eight trigrams seal and heavenly spiral seal he had devised would only be able to work on a newly born child, not even a month old. It was an issue with the host adapting to the minute seepage of the tailed beast's chakra. His son had been born that night, so he had one child, but what about the other?

"And that is why I gathered you all here. I must ask for one you to volunteer a child under your jurisdiction to be a joint Jinchuuriki with Naruto. He or she must be a newborn, under a month old."

The clan elders all looked shocked. "WHAT?!" Choza Akimichi shouted out. "Are you insane?!" He was clearly angered by the absurdity of such a request, as were the other clan heads.

Minato looked back with steel in his eyes. "You heard me, Choza. I need one of you to volunteer a child from your clan to become a Jinchuuriki." Stopping the outpouring of replies with a wave of his hand, Minato continued. "Normally, I would seal the fox in myself, but performing the seal will kill me." Minato paused to let the clan heads absorb this information. It wasn't the whole truth, but he preferred that only a few trusted be given knowledge of the seals.

"The seal I've designed needs time to stabilize the Biju within the Jinchuuriki. On my death, there is a chance that the Kyuubi will be released, which is why I need a young child. I'm sorry to ask, but again, does someone want to volunteer?"

All the elders looked away in silent shame. Their Hokage would never have asked such a question unless he was not sacrificing everything he had. To even contemplate sacrificing one's child, and atop that, one's family for the village… Well, who could be so selfless? This was why everybody was stunned when Fugaku said, "Sasuke will be the joint Jinchuuriki."

Whispers swirled around the minds of the assembled shinobi.

Fugaku? No way!

Why would he do something like this?

What's the catch?

The clan heads all glanced at Fugaku suspiciously. Minato looked at the man who had been his long time friend and rival. "Fugaku, are you sure?"

The others present who knew of Fugaku's icy nature all had the same questioning look. The famous Uchiha pride seemed above making such sacrifices.

Fugaku returned the steely look. "Of course, Minato," he said, dropping the honorific, to show how serious he was. "I am an Uchiha, and like everybody else here, we have a responsibility towards Konoha." He was an Uchiha at heart, and his pride and loyalty for the village compelled him to sacrifice for the village. Besides, he owed at least this to Minato, the man sacrificing his life, family, and even morals for the sake of Konoha.

Even a sacrifice such as this. His heart wrenched as he thought of Sasuke.

Minato nodded. "Alright, everybody move out. Assist the evacuation process. I want to make sure that everybody's safe by the time I get a containment seal up. Let's move! We have a village to protect!" With that, Minato disappeared in a yellow flash. All the clan heads nodded and raced away, hoping to save their precious village and people.

IIIIIII

The small baby squirmed in Minato's arms, as if it knew what was going to happen soon. "Shh, Naruto. It'll be alright. I promise." Minato looked out from the top of the Hokage's tower, then down sadly at his son. Kushina Uzumaki, his beloved wife and Naruto's mother had been killed by Uchiha Madara not even an hour ago. The masked man had been enigmatic at best, but his intentions toward the village had been clear. There had been a feel of vengeance about the man.

Minato had fought the masked alleged-immortal and driven Madara away, proving that his legendary status was well-merited. Wresting control of the Kyuubi away from Madara, Minato was able to prevent the total annihilation of the village. But the problem remained that the Kyuubi itself was still rampaging at the gates of Konoha.

Shaking away his gloom, Minato repositioned Naruto into a more comfortable position and plunged headlong into the chaotic streets, shouting out words of encouragement to the villagers being evacuated. A "Stay strong" here, and an "I'll take care of it" there renewed the villagers' faith in their charismatic leader.

But when Minato arrived in the village center, he was horrified at the sight that he saw in the distance. Even a quarter mile away from the village, the Kyuubi was gigantic, able to be seen clearly. Minato could distinctly see the Kyuubi drawing in chakra towards its mouth, readying for a devastating attack. An eerie red glow came into being, casting lurid shadows on the village and Minato felt a tugging in his gut.

The Kyuubi was aiming straight for the Hokages' monument! The Tailed Beast Bomb! Minato thought, a pang in his heart as he remembered his isolated training sessions with Kushina. Quickly jumping up to the higher buildings in the village, Minato hoped to step in front of the projectile and redirect it with his Flying Thunder God Jutsu.

But as soon as the chakra missile left the fox's maw, a huge gate with a demonic face leering out rose up to intercept the bomb. A blinding white light exploded across the entire village, but when the attack died, the gate was gone… and the village was still safe.

A rousing cheer arose from the shinobi fighting at the front lines. Minato breathed a sigh of relief. Orochimaru's jutsu. It's good that Sarutobi-san picked that up from his student. Continuing on his way, Minato's step had an added urgency, lest another attack like the Tailed Beast Bomb occur. Arriving at the Front Gates, the Hokage was greeted by the sight of dead and injured comrades laying in the scattered debris. Steeling his heart, Minato broadened his senses. The fox was about a quarter mile away. Sarutobi was drawing it away from the village. Good.

Several ANBU dropped silently next to Minato, who was already falling into what others had dubbed 'Hokage mode.' Minato barked out, "Report!"

"Hokage-sama! The fox tore through our defenses! Sandaime-Sama was able to prevent the destruction of the village and right now, he's leading it away! He ordered a general retreat for all shinobi in the area. He is holding back the fox on his own and he won't last long without backup!"

"Backup's on the way," Minato said, already moving toward the sounds of battle and where he knew Sarutobi would be battling the Kyuubi. "Just get a containment seal up in another five! Evacuate everybody - and I mean everybody - from the immediate vicinity! Take the wounded to the hospital! No more casualties!" Already racing away, Minato turned back and called out, "And when Fugaku Uchiha arrives, let him through!"

The ANBU agents nodded, and after picking up their wounded comrades around them, shunshin'd to the other shinobi to spread the word, flickering away in the still air.

Minato sped through the trees toward the fox's overwhelming chakra signature. He had to hurry. Fugaku would arrive soon, and he had to stop the fox from reaching and destroying the village.

Minato arrived about 60 yards away from the fox, landing next to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the former Hokage. The Third was breathing hard, having laid everything on the line and ready to do so again.

Minato took a second to take in his bearings. Around the fox, Minato noticed that there was a huge clearing where felled trees created an obstacle course of sorts, but there was nothing to obstruct long range attacks. That was good. Then the Kyuubi gave another terrifying roar.

Its roar, filled with rage towards the puny humans that dared to rise against it, was so strong that Minato needed to channel chakra to his own feet to remain standing.

He saw that the Third had used an earth jutsu to bind the Kyuubi in place, but nature itself could not stand to be near such a malevolent force. The dirt was cracking and falling apart already.

"Minato! I'm glad you're here. This fox is taking everything I'm throwing at it and spitting it back out. I was able to restrict its movements, but it'll break out soon!"

"Don't worry. I've got a plan. But first, I'd like you to meet my son, Naruto Namikaze."

The sadness in Minato's voice wasn't lost on the Third, nor was the blank and hollow look in his normally bright and lively eyes. Looking at the bundle in Minato's arms, he saw a pair of shining blue eyes. For a moment, time stood still in the battle with the Kyuubi. "He looks like you, Minato," he commented. "He'll grow up a fine young man. Though I dread the reason you would bring him to this battlefield, of all places."

Minato figured that the Third would see through his plan. Doing his best to push down the grief threatening to spill over, Minato said, "Kushina's dead. The one of who- who killed her unleashed the Kyuubi… right after she gave birth." Finishing in a rush, Minato's voice broke even as he thought about the death of his wife.

"What?" The Third cried out, alarmed at this development. Seeing the fox loose, Hiruzen had immediately known that something was wrong, but he had hoped... Biwako... Kushina. Even as the grief he felt for his wife redoubled in his own heart, his thoughts went out to his successor, who looked deep in contemplation.

Kushina had given her grudging approval for Minato's plan, but had made her husband promise to find a way to allow them to see Naruto one last time in the future. His heart broke when her eyes closed for the last time, but Minato was the Hokage, and he had a job to do. Taking a deep breath, Minato focused his mind back to the crisis at hand. As if Kushina's death isn't already a crisis, the Yondaime Hokage thought bitterly.

"Yes," Minato replied, calming the waver in his voice. "I drove him off, but before he fled, the killer claimed to be Uchiha Madara, exacting revenge on the village. Although I don't believe him, you should still be wary in the future."

The Third saw the grief in Minato's face, and noticed that Minato had said you, not we. "Minato, please tell me that you aren't going to do what I think."

Minato looked up at Hiruzen Sarutobi, nodding as his eyes filled with an incomparable depth of sadness. "I'm going to seal away the fox in my son, but only half of the Kyuubi."

"What do you mean?" Trying to quell the sadness in his heart, the Third grunted as he felt the control over his jutsu breaking.

"He means," A third voice said, "That my son will be housing the other half of the Kyuubi's chakra."

Hiruzen turned to the newcomer, surprised that his fatigue had prevented him from sensing him, but even more so to see Fugaku Uchiha. In the past, political resentments would have brought about tension, but today was altogether exceptional. Both men nodded at each other, a tacit agreement formed to put aside the past.

Suddenly, the Third fell to one knee as the Kyuubi gave a roar, breaking free of the binding jutsu. "It's loose! Minato!" Hiruzen called out.

"On it! Take Naruto!" Minato cried, handing his son to his predecessor. Forming hand seals in a blur, Minato called out, "Lightning Style: Lightning Storm!" Slamming his hands to the ground, the sky rumbled, before unleashing a pillar of lightning right on the fox.

"GRRRRAAAAHHHHH!" The fox roared out in rage. Its fur was singed, and the smell of burnt flesh wafted into the air. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED TODAY!" The fox roared as it gathered chakra for another tailed beast bomb.

Minato stepped back, panting lightly. That jutsu was usually a big finisher and quite chakra intensive, even for his above average stores. However, it only seemed to annoy the fox. "Stay back," Minato ordered Hiruzen and Fugaku. "And don't move. I've got this." Fugaku and the Third trusted Minato, but even they had to fight their instincts as the volatile chakra missile shot toward them.

His hands blurring as he formed another set of seals, Minato put his hands forward, palms toward the tailed beast bomb. No words were said as Minato activated his jutsu. A void seemed to open up, right in front of the fox's attack, sucking it right into Minato's space-time slipstream. Minato grit his teeth at the effort and concentration the jutsu required to redirect the attack.

Giving a mighty yell, Minato pushed forward with his hands, redirecting the tailed beast bomb back out straight at the fox.

"YOU LITTLE-!" The fox roared in surprised anger. It tried to move out of the way too late. The chakra missile collided with the fox and the world became blinding white and a deafening roar for an instant. When the light died and the dust cleared, the Kyuubi was down on the ground, panting hard, trying to recover from his own attack. Minato had completely redirected a tailed beast bomb, crippling the Kyuubi if only for a moment.

"CAPTIVITY! PATHETIC!" The fox roared at itself frustratedly as it tried to stand, before stumbling forward. It never expected that his own attack could be used against him in such a way. The last human to push him this far was the Shodai Hokage.

Minato nearly fell over, trying to stay upright after performing his jutsu. His chakra levels were now roughly a quarter of his full stores. Such a large scale use of the Hiraishin was draining. After maybe one more jutsu, he'd have just enough to see the sealing through.

Fugaku and the Third rushed over to help Minato. They were amazed at the level of Minato's prowess. It was unreal. To go toe to toe with a tailed beast!

"Hokage-sama, are you alright?" Fugaku asked, still holding Sasuke with one arm.

"Yes! I'll hold up, but we have to finish this now! Fugaku, Sarutobi-san! Cover me!" Minato ordered, before rushing forward, oblivious to everything except the goal of saving his village. You mess with my village, you mess with me! Minato thought grimly.

"Damn!" The Third yelled out. "Fugaku! My chakra stores are nearly gone. Give me Sasuke, and cover Minato!"

Fugaku merely nodded, placing his complete trust in the older man as he gave his son to the Third. He rushed off in Minato's wake, unleashing several devastating fire jutsus on the downed fox.

Meanwhile, Minato, seeing that the fox was starting to recover from the effects of the tailed beast bomb and Fugaku's jutsus, threw one of his special Hiraishin kunai over the fox's head. Teleporting to the location of the kunai, high above the fox's head, Minato made five hand seals in quick progression. "Summoning Jutsu: Food Cart Destroyer!" Minato cried out during his descent. In an instant explosion of smoke, a huge toad materialized and slammed onto the fox with the force of several hundred tons.

The fox roared out in muffled pain and anger as its entire body was crushed by the boss summon of the toads. Minato landed on top of the toad he had just summoned. "My thanks, 'Bunta. I hate to involve you in this fight, but I need you to stop the fox from moving!"

"Minato! You summon me to fight the Kyuubi?!" Gamabunta asked in surprise. He was strong sure, but the Nine-tailed fox was on a whole other level. Maybe a lesser demon, but the Kyuubi? Doubtful.

"This fight won't last much longer, but we need to protect the village! And… my son..." Minato trailed off sadly.

The boss of the toads was surprised to hear that Minato had jeopardized the life of his child by bringing it into a battle with the Kyuubi. "You brought your son?! Are you mad, kid?!" 'Bunta asked angrily. Already, he had taken out his tanto, squirming to gain a better position above the struggling and roaring Kyuubi.

Minato's reply was equally steely. "I plan to seal the Kyuubi into my son. It's the only way…" He trailed off as he thought about the possible futures that Naruto might face.

Gamabunta was silent for a second. For it to come to this, Minato must be desperate. He's a man of honor, and to have to sacrifice his family… well, that must be driving Minato crazy with guilt. 'Bunta thought sadly. And I'm certainly not helping.

"Alright Minato. Do it now, and quick! The fox is getting loose!" Gamabunta said quickly, mind darting back to the battle at hand.

Minato recognized the gesture. "Thanks, 'Bunta. I'm going to give the key to Geratora, so when the time comes, Naruto will have the chance to control his destiny."

Gamabunta nodded, before shifting his weight again. Even wounded, the Kyuubi was putting up a fight. Grabbing the fox in a sort of head lock, Bunta addressed the summoner on his head.

"Kid! We've gotta finish this before the Kyuubi gets free! I'm not gonna be able to hold him forever!" The Boss toad yelled, before unsheathing his sword and stabbing the Kyuubi through its hind leg.

"GRAAAAAAHHHH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU DISGUSTING FROG!" The Kyuubi yelled in pain and anger, thrashing around under the weight of the Boss Toad.

"Hurry up, Minato!" Gamabunta yelled, shifting his full weight to the fox beneath him. "And it's Mr. Toad to you! You overgrown furbag!"

Ignoring the verbal and physical exchange between the two behemoths, Minato teleported to the seal that he had marked Naruto with, appearing right next to the Third. Fugaku and the Third had already retreated back a ways, to keep the children safe.

"Okay. We have to start this now, before the fox breaks free from 'Bunta!" Minato cut his hand with a kunai and started drawing the trigrams for his seal. He had practiced this several times before, and the seal diagram came easily. After a minute, he was finished. "Ok. Hiruzen, pass me Naruto."

Taking his son from the former Hokage, Minato gently placed his son toward the right of the seal.

Minato gestured toward the Uchiha. "Fugaku, place Sasuke next to Naruto."

Fugaku moved forward, placing his son in the empty slot. Taking a moment, he touched Sasuke's face with a tenderness he did not often display. The leader of the Uchiha remembered the determination and the strength his own wife displayed when he told her of Minato's plan… and Sasuke's part in the plan. "Son, I'm so sorry, but this is for the good of the village. Please forgive me, for I know that you will be able to handle this."

Minato glanced worriedly at the battle between 'Bunta and the Kyuubi. The tables were turning slowly but surely. The destruction all around them was all too real of a reminder. "No pressure, Fugaku, but we have to start the sealing now!"

Fugaku nodded, and stepped away from his son. Minato thanked him, and finished the sealing complex on both Naruto and Sasuke.

Meanwhile, the Third had gotten back up, half his chakra replenished by a soldier pill. "Minato will probably need cover," he said to Fugaku. "We must protect the children from anything that could disrupt the sealing."

Fugaku nodded in response. As one, both men primed up their chakra and yelled out their jutsus in unison.

"Fire Style: Super Heated Particle!"

"Fire Style: Dragon Missile Jutsu! Uchiha Style!"

Twin massive projectiles of fire arced across the battleground, blasting the Kyuubi in the face. Dazed for a bit, the demon fox stopped struggling for a moment.

"Minato! Now!" Gamabunta yelled out, seeing the window of opportunity.

Minato took his chance and teleported to the mark he had left on Gamabunta's head. Throwing a kunai right toward the fox's head, Minato teleported, landing neatly on the Kyuubi's head. Looking up, Minato gazed right into the massive eyes of the Nine-Tails. They were filled with hate and malice.

The Kyuubi glared at him with those hateful, yellow, slitted eyes. The fox's chakra was so potent and filled with hate, it made Minato's limbs feel heavy with despair. "I KNOW WHAT YOU TRY TO DO! YOU WILL NEVER SUCCEED! I WON'T LET YOU!" The fox growled out, as it tried to get out from under Gamabunta.

Minato just looked the fox straight in the eye. "I have a village to protect, so I WILL succeed!"

The fox just growled as it struggled against Gamabunta's weight.

"DIIIIEEEE!" The Kyuubi continued to struggle, dislodging Gamabunta's tanto from the ground and freeing his limb.

Gathering his courage and shutting out the voice of the fox, fueling his own feelings of misgiving and despair, the Fourth Hokage raised his hands toward the fox. "Draw!" He yelled. Using his own chakra as a focal point, Minato drew out the Kyuubi's Yin chakra.

The Kyuubi's eyes widened as it felt its power leaving it. The demon fox started to shrink to half of its normal size, becoming visibly emaciated. "HOW ARE YOU SO STRONG?!"

Minato only gritted his teeth and kept on drawing away the fox's chakra, his will inexorable. When he was finished, a red mass of boiling yin energy hovered above his hands. As he ran back to Sasuke and Naruto, the Kyuubi, smaller than before, managed to wriggle away from Gamabunta and unleash another chakra missile at Minato. Not even looking up, Minato kept on running, placing his trust in his comrades.

When the missile was only twenty meters away, the Third appeared in front of the projectile, signing several hand seals in a blur. "Earth Style: Multi-Layered Protective Wall!" A huge mound of stone and earth rose in the path of the projectile.

The explosion that resulted blew over several trees and released a blinding white light, but everybody was safe for the moment. The Third breathed a sigh of relief and exhaustion, as he released his jutsu. The fox was still putting up one heck of a fight.

Gamabunta jumped into action, literally, landing on the fox again and gripped it's neck in a strong headlock. "You won't escape me that easily!" Bunta yelled gruffly.

Minato managed to stay on his feet from the resultant blast and maintained control over the Kyuubi's chakra, held above his right hand. As he ran toward Sasuke and Naruto, the Third and Fugaku continued pummeling the fox with every jutsu they had, hoping to wear down the fox.

Kneeling before the children, in a split second decision, Minato decided to place the Yin chakra in Sasuke. When he awoke the Sharingan, he would have an easier time controlling the Yin, rather than the Yang chakra, given the spiritual nature of the Sharingan and Yin energy.

Minato was glad that he had designed his seal to completely separate the minds of the Biju and their host. He had heard of crude seals where the Biju was able to overwhelm its host. He was not going to let that happen to Naruto or Sasuke.

Setting aside his misgivings, Minato started to seal the chakra into Sasuke, and when he was finished, he yelled, "Heavenly Spiral, Seal!" A spiral marking drew itself quickly over Sasuke's stomach. The Heavenly Spiral seal was the initial seal holding the Kyuubi's Yin chakra in place. "Eight Trigrams, seal!" The Eight Trigrams seal would allow that chakra to seep slowly into the host, and allow the host to adapt to the Biju.

Seeing the familiar eight points appear on the edge of the spiral, Minato cut off the chakra flow to his jutsu. The young baby passed out, his body overwhelmed by the presence of a new being.

Gamabunta was having a hard time restraining the Kyuubi, who was getting angrier and angrier by the moment, despite Fugaku and Hiruzen's attacks.

Minato, seeing the urgency of the situation, teleported back to the seal he had placed on the Kyuubi's head. Minato shrugged off the heavy weight of the Kyuubi's intense, hateful chakra, ready to finish with the sealing process.

"SCUM! I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS! EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" The Kyuubi roared out, unable to believe that this pathetic human was defeating him. Not to mention his oversized bag of warts! He had grown complacent in his captivity.

"One more time! Draw!" As Minato started to draw out the fox's Yang chakra, he felt something strange. Although the fox had lost its yin chakra, it was fighting much more aggressively this time around. Narrowing his eyes, Minato realized that the fox was drawing his own chakra out!

Oh crap! This is not good! Minato thought, as he felt his own power being drained.

The fox grinned maliciously at his adversary and chuckled. A deep throaty chuckle that imbued fear into the depths of Minato's mind. Even being thrashed by Gamabunta and being hit by the A-rank level jutsus of Fugaku and Hiruzen, the Kyuubi was so focused on his enemy that he ignored his wounds. If anything, the Kyuubi's will was becoming more and more empowered as he battled with Minato's will.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I WON'T BE DEFEATED SO EASILY" The fox roared out as he felt his hated opponent's life force draw into his own.

No! Minato thought, desperately, feeling more and more of his essence being swallowed by the fox's hatred. I've lost! I've failed you, Kushina, Naruto! Forgive me! But as the faces of his wife, his son, and his friends flashed before his face, Minato realized that he couldn't give up. Not here! Not now!

"Minato!" Fugaku roared from across the battlefield. "Don't give up!"

"Think of those who rely on you!" The Third yelled in encouragement.

"You can do this, kid! You're stronger than this furbag!" Bunta said, while renewing his struggle on the fox.

They - they're right! Minato thought with renewed conviction. I have people to save. They're counting on me! I will not let Kushina's death be in vain! I have to do this! I will not give up!

"I WILL NOT GIVE UP!" Minato roared out. Finding strength that he never knew was there, the Fourth Hokage turned the tide of the battle in that single instant.

The Kyuubi was shocked when Minato began to turn the tide by pure willpower alone. He felt his chakra being taken by an inexorable force.

He narrowed his eyes at the Hokage. What was this power? "HOW?"

As Minato drew away the last of the fox's chakra, he looked his enemy straight in the eye. "My precious people depend on me, and I will not fail them!"

The Kyuubi stared back, his eyes filled with hatred, but this time, there was something else. Respect. Knowing that this single man had somehow defeated him – and without a Sharingan – had humbled the Kyuubi even further, if such a thing was possible. "I WILL REMEMBER YOU, NAMIKAZE." Then in a final battle of wills, the fox gave a mighty roar, struggling in one final attempt to overcome this worthy opponent.

Feeling the crucial moment of the battle, Minato too poured his entire being into the sealing process, drawing on his memories, his loved ones. Letting forth an incoherent shout, Minato gave a great heave, drawing the fox's remaining chakra away.

Then, just like that, the rest of the fox was sealed away, it's physical body burning away without the Biju's willpower and chakra to sustain it. An eery quiet seemed to descend upon the battle scene as the Fourth Hokage trudged back to his son, holding a condensed mass of energy over his hand. The Third and Fugaku breathed a sigh of relief. The battle was almost over. They rejoined Minato, looking over the two boys whose fates were now irreversibly intertwined.

Looking at each other, the three members of Konoha's newest and deadliest secret nodded, silently encouraging each other.

Taking a deep breath, Minato sealed the remnants of the Kyuubi into Naruto. But before finalizing his seal, he poured every last bit of his own chakra into Naruto, and his wife's remaining chakra, which he had sealed in himself in anticipation of this very moment.

At least he and Kushina would be able to see their son one last time. He had kept his promise. But then, he thought about all of the promises of a father that he had broken by condemning Naruto to the life of a Jinchuuriki. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Naruto and Sasuke would most likely be outcasts in Konoha. Setting aside his feelings of guilt, Minato focused back on the task at hand.

"Seal!" His jutsu completed, Minato collapsed to his knees, the strain of his jutsu and the previous battles taking their toll. The sound of Minato's voice rolled across the war-torn battlefield, echoing with a strain of loss and hurt.

The Heavenly Spiral and Eight Trigrams seal appeared on Naruto's stomach. The village had been saved, but at the price of who was perhaps its greatest Kage. In an instant, the Third and Fugaku were there, supporting their Hokage. "Hokage-sama! You did it!" Fugaku said, supporting Minato.

Minato looked at both Fugaku and the Third with a sad smile. "Yes, but now, I must go see Kushina." Taking a racking breath, Minato coughed into his arm, still mindful of his manners even at death's doorstep.

"But first," Minato bit his thumb and summoned a large scroll, which he unfurled. In the middle of the scroll, there was a complex diagram with an empty section in the middle that had been previously drawn. Using his blood, Minato finalized the diagram, the key to the boys' seals. "Gamabunta! Give this to Geratora, please… until the time's right."

Gamabunta stepped forward taking up the small scroll somberly. Fugaku and Hiruzen were silent as Minato made his last wishes clear. Minato suddenly realized that he was crying. He looked at his son one last time, and felt a pang of regret, realizing that he wouldn't be able to be there for his son as he grew up. "T-T-Tell Naruto that I love him and that… that… I'm sorry." The blonde Hokage looked at those around him with a renewed fire in his eyes. "They're heroes, no matter what anyone says! They're heroes… heroes…"

Trailing off, Minato began to close his eyes. "It's time we're together again, Kushina." With that, Konoha's Yellow Flash and her greatest Hokage, Minato Namikaze closed his eyes for the last time.

Fugaku could only stare as his friend passed away. Minato had a smile on his face. Gamabunta as well looked on in sadness. He hoped that one day, the toads would be able to honor Minato's legacy. One day…

The Third too stood in sad contemplation. This was not the way it was meant to be. The old generation is supposed to sacrifice for the new generation. Not the other way around…

This was a sad day not only for Konoha, but for the toads as well. Minato was well loved no matter where he was. He was a man well worth the title of hero.

Gamabunta was the first to speak. "Well, Hiruzen. I will be taking my leave now. Give my regards and regret to Jiraiya when next you see him." Leaving the realm with a puff of smoke, neither shinobi realized the tears that threatened to overwhelm the boss toad's eyes.

But they were both snapped out of their reverie by the crying of the babies. Looking over the boys, both men pondered the futures of the children.

"Sarutobi-san, it appears that you are the Hokage again."

"Yes," the Third said sadly. "It appears that I am."

Fugaku continued, "We must hide all information regarding the two boys as Jinchuuriki. No one outside the shinobi council can know about this. Not even the civilian council. The village would turn against them."

"I agree, Fugaku. Which is why, although it pains me to say, you cannot adopt Naruto."

Fugaku was surprised. "How did you guess what I had planned?"

"Call it Hokage's intuition, but you are right, when you say that we cannot let any hint of what has happened to these two boys be released. They are now a double-S class secret." The Third said gravely. "If other nations got word of this, their very lives would be endangered. Especially from nations like Iwa. Think of their hate for the 'Yellow Flash of Konoha.' The chance to kill his legacies… they wouldn't be able to pass it up.

"Not only that, but to adopt a non-Uchiha into your family would certainly arouse suspicion," The Third said. "People would start inquiring, and inquiry leads to truth. And do not forget about clan politics."

Fugaku nodded reluctantly, before turning away. There were simply too many obstacles to adoption. He didn't want to admit it, but the Third was right. As much as he hated leaving Minato's son alone as he grew up, he would have to for the sake of his safety.

But then, the Third continued. "Also, Naruto will not take the surname Namikaze -"

"What?!" Fugaku burst out. "You would deny him his birthright?" To an Uchiha, the pride associated with one's name was very strong. To take away one's name… That was tantamount to exile in Fugaku's eyes.

The Third held up his hand. "Until he is old enough to properly protect himself and his father's legacy." The Third understood why Fugaku felt the way he did, but this was for Naruto's protection. "I understand that for you, Fugaku, a name holds great importance, but it is because of his name, that Naruto's life could be endangered. Sasuke has the protection of the Uchiha, but Naruto has nobody in his life who can protect him. I can only do so much from the shadows. This is for his own good. We can't afford the risk of others catching wind of Naruto being the Fourth's legacy as well as a Jinchuuriki."

Fugaku wasn't happy with the decision, but he saw the sense behind it. He bit his tongue and nodded to his Hokage, who himself was grieved by his decision.

What neither man knew was that they were not unobserved. A shadow darted away back to its master, its chakra network concealed expertly.

Now though, the destroyed forest and the ruins of the battleground surrounded the two men, enveloping them in a somber, dark, and foreboding silence that seemed to foreshadow the trials of the future. But more than that, the very forest mourned the loss of Konohagakure's greatest Kage. The fallen trees seemed to weep in silence, their branches and leaves littered all over the ground. The rocks cried out, lamenting the fates of the Fourth Hokage and Konoha's two newest Jinchuuriki.

The two men themselves were mourning internally. This was a sad day, but a glorious day at the same time. Konoha had gained a great hero that would mark its history with glory, but it had also lost a great leader, one that could have brought peace and prosperity to the village.

Just then, the ANBU Commander landed next to them. "Sandaime-sama! Uchiha-san! I saw the battle from outside the containment. Then, the fox disappeared." He noticed the sleeping babies. "What happened?"

IIIIIII

A week after the Kyuubi attack, Konoha was rebuilding itself, wary for attacks from hostile ninja villages. The Third Hokage had returned from retirement to lead his village during its time of need.

During the hectic post-attack week, the Hokage destroyed all possible information regarding the status of Naruto and Sasuke as Jinchuuriki, such as Minato's seal designs and the minutes from his last war council with the clan heads. The only records he preserved – and those he sealed under every conceivable seal he knew – were those pertaining to Naruto's parentage.

If nobody knew of their status as Jinchuuriki, and more importantly, Naruto's parentage, then maybe they would be able to lead normal lives. An old war veteran, the Third knew that he could trust most of the the shinobi clan heads who made up the shinobi council and his ANBU Commander, but what Hiruzen wasn't counting on was Danzo.

Several days after the Kyuubi-attack, Hiruzen and Fugaku were discussing various matters regarding Naruto, Sasuke, and this man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara. The Third had told Fugaku of his conversation with Minato, and both had agreed that it was impossible for this man to have been Uchiha Madara. But to use such a feared name could potentially lead to trouble in the future.

But another matter disturbed Fugaku at the moment, and that was Naruto's wellbeing. "Hokage-sama. You must allow me to take in Naruto," Fugaku said in a hushed tone. "An orphanage is no place for that boy!"

Although the room was protected by silence seals, both shinobi were taking no chances.

"Fugaku. We've gone over this. Such a thing is too conspicuous. I believe that we have spies already snooping around. If my suspicions are correct, they belong to Danzo."

Fugaku cursed under his breath. "That man is a worm! There was a time that I agreed with his policies, but after Minato, I find his methods to be despicable. One does not protect the village by subterfuge!"

The Third was more composed. "True, but he is powerful with the council." If his suspicions were further proved, Danzo also headed a black ops group. That would explain certain anomalies he and Minato had noticed. "We will have to-"

Knock knock knock. "Who could that be?" Fugaku wondered. The Third had specifically given instructions that they were not to be interrupted.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. But we'll find out soon." Disarming the seal on the door, but not the silence seals, the Third called out, "Come in!"

The door creaked open slowly, revealing the man that the two had just been talking about. The devil incarnate? Close.

"Danzo… What do you want?" Hiruzen said in a very controlled and cold tone. His teammate and former friend had never been the same after being crippled on his right side.

"Now, Saru-kun," Danzo began mockingly. "Aren't you happy to see your teammate?"

"Frankly, no. I'm busy, so what's so important that you interrupted my meeting with Fugaku."

"Ah yes, Uchiha-san. How nice to see you." Danzo greeted, his voice oily smooth.

"Shimura-san." Fugaku was brief and curt. He didn't feel like talking to this machine. This soulless form. He was no man.

"How appropriate that you're both here," Danzo continued, his gaze falling back on the Hokage.

Fugaku narrowed his eyes and Hiruzen, swiftly schooling his features, felt a sense of dread coming. Could it be that Danzo has found out? Impossible! But if he has? "And why would that be?"

"Well, he is after all, the father of one of our Jinchuuriki."

The temperature in the room fell a full twenty degrees. Both the Hokage and Fugaku released a large amount of killer intent, none of which seemed to be affecting Danzo.

Receiving a glance from the Hokage, Fugaku wisely kept his mouth shut, though he wanted to choke the life out of this- this- this piece of-! Calm. Be calm. Fugaku breathed out, composing his features with some effort.

Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief. Dealing with Danzo would require tact. "Is that all? I believe that all in this room are currently privy to that information."

If this riled up Danzo, the Third wouldn't have known it. His teammate had always been exceptional at deception and manipulation. More so than himself.

"Actually, no. I have a request." Danzo said.

"No!" Fugaku cut in. "The answer to your request," he spat out, "is NO!"

"You don't even know my request." Danzo said, almost chuckling it seemed. "I don't want your son. I want Naruto Uzumaki."

Now Hiruzen was truly becoming worried. Just how did Danzo get his hands on this information?! "Why?" He asked, signaling Fugaku to back down.

"The answer is simple. He must become a weapon. And I only really need one. This is for the good of Konoha, after all. Other shinobi villages have Jinchuuriki, and that we finally have acquired two, we must begin their training immediately."

Hiruzen didn't miss the fact that Danzo's goals were self-centered. But to bring it up, Danzo would only claim that it was for the good of the village. And he probably believed it too. Hiruzen hated the person that Danzo had become.

"As Fugaku said, the answer is no." But not even this seemed to put Danzo off.

"But I think you'll disagree when I tell you that it is Naruto Namikaze that I want."

The temperature took another plunge, the mood in the room freezing over. How the hell did he find out?! Did one of the clan heads tell him?! Fugaku thought angrily. The Third's thoughts were running along the same line.

Thinking furiously, the Third tried to find a way out of this corner that Danzo had tried to squeeze him in. Until Danzo continued.

"Because I believe that the council will love to get ahold of this information…" Danzo let the threat hang in the air.

The room suddenly heated up instantly as Fugaku stood up furiously, violently kicking his chair away. Before Fugaku could rush at Danzo, Hiruzen moved with all the speed that a Kage was known for and placed a hand on Fugaku's shoulder. Giving him a warning look, the Third turned back to Danzo. He had found his way out. Trust me, his eyes seemed to say to Fugaku. The Uchiha could only nod and step back helplessly.

"If you want to inform the council, please do. Endanger Konoha. Go ahead Danzo." The Third said, keeping his tone neutral. Although Danzo was a master manipulator, nobody knew politics like a Kage. And Hiruzen was a Kage in every respect of the word.

Danzo narrowed his visible eye at this development. He was not expecting this.

"Excuse me?" He asked slowly, trying to buy time to figure this out.

Fugaku too looked so angry, his eyes demanding an explanation.

"If you want to allow our enemies an excuse to attack us in our moment of weakness, tell them that their hated enemy's son, the son of the Yellow Flash, lives. If you would like to endanger the village, not to mention your life as well, please. Be my guest."

The Third's voice was steely cold and held no emotion in it whatsoever, but Danzo knew better. Hiruzen was furious beyond furious. There was no way to describe the hidden rage beneath his calm exterior.

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama?" Danzo asked carefully. Discretion is the better part of valor, here.

"Let me spell it out for you, Danzo. To speak of either Naruto or Sasuke in any terms regarding the Kyuubi or the Yondaime will result in immediate death. Effective as of now."

Danzo was beginning to seethe on the inside, but he kept his calm facade up. "Do you have the authority to make such a law, Hokage-sama?"

"Of course I do. The period of martial control is not yet up, considering the crisis that we have just recently undergone. So if you have nothing more to say, leave. Now." The Third turned back to his desk, walking slowly and regally. He was pleased to see that Danzo gave a brief nod in his direction before turning and leaving quickly.

Fugaku gave an angry sigh as soon as Danzo had left. The Third quickly resealed the door and began writing furiously.

"What are you doing, Hokage-sama?" Fugaku asked, seeing the Third completely absorbed by his task.

"I am writing down the law onto paper to make sure that it is instituted as soon as possible. I have no doubt that Danzo will tell the council soon, but for now, this should deter him until we can set up more permanent and ensured measures. The man's first priorities, believe it or not, are for Konoha. He simply goes about in a different way."

Fugaku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Oh how he hated Danzo, despite whatever the Sandaime may have felt for his ex-teammate. "Hokage-sama. I believe that if this knowledge has already been compromised, then so might be the knowledge of this Uchiha Madara impostor. If Danzo knows, he can turn the village against the Uchiha clan, and we'll be powerless to protect either Sasuke or Naruto."

The Third realized that this was something else to figure out. "Alright. Thank you Fugaku. We'll keep in touch to discuss how to truly put Danzo in his place, but for now, please. Go home. Your family needs you."

Fugaku knew that it was time to leave. "Thank you Hokage-sama. We must find Danzo's informant and the man's plans. For the sake of Sasuke and Naruto. For Minato's legacy and Konoha itself." Turning away, he missed the sigh the Third gave and the sadness in the old man's eyes. The Hokage would never have revealed it in public, but he was tired. He had lost his wife, his successor, and now, he was burdened with the leadership of the village again, a post he thought he had retired from. He simply didn't want to deal with this issue right now.

The Third though set aside his personal grief and focused on how to protect the boys. However, as more laws were silently passed, no matter what Hiruzen tried to do, Danzo had attempted to circumvent him. Finally, the old war hawk had succeeded in revealing to the council the news of Naruto, Sasuke, and even Madara all at once. The only thing he left out was Naruto's lineage.

Hiruzen sighed. In his own twisted way, Danzo desired to keep the village safe. Clearly, he hoped to do this by controlling the clans. By revealing the identity of the man responsible for the Kyuubi attack, Danzo had effectively turned the village against the Uchiha and would be able to use fear to control and manipulate both the Uchiha and Naruto. Danzo had future plans, Hiruzen would stake his position as Hokage on it.

Konoha may have been considered accepting and open minded about bloodlines, but the concept of a Jinchuuriki, especially one hosting the Kyuubi, the demon responsible for so much tragedy, would not be accepted easily among Konoha's populace.

In fact, after the council was told the news of Konoha's Jinchuuriki, vicious rumors started to spread regarding a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed demon brat as well as a traitorous clan in the midst of Konoha's elite!

Hiruzen Sarutobi was an old man, there was no need to deny it. And the stress he had to deal with as the rumors of a blonde haired demon and a traitorous Uchiha clan were not something he wanted to handle at the moment.

Did the villagers even know that their beloved Hokage wanted the boys to be seen as heroes? Did they even know that Naruto was his son? Did they know the sacrifice that the boys had to go through everyday? Just to protect the village?

No of course not. But unsurprisingly, the villagers were all blinded by the bias and hatred that had developed from seeing so many of their loved ones fall to the claws of the fox. If the Uchiha and the "Demon brat" were being scapegoated, they would accept it willingly.

Hiruzen knew that he should've made the regulations of the law much more specific, but the council had by then gained even more power and overruled him. He had managed to confine their power grab within the civilian realm, maintaining most of his old power. But to have an advisory council with the power to veto his bills was quite annoying.

But those matters would have to wait. Yes, Danzo was an idiot and a subversive traitor for spreading those rumors and he needed to be taken care of, but for now, there were bigger fish to fry. There were agreements and non-aggression pacts to sign. Wars and conquests to deter.

But compared to the Hokage's domestic issues, foreign issues were nothing. The village was still a formidable military power even after Kyuubi's destruction. No, it was the problems of hate and mistrust surrounding Naruto and the Uchiha that Hiruzen had to wade through.

Hiruzen was able to prevent violence with a small amendment to his previous law, but because the council openly opposed his every move to protect the Uchiha and Naruto, he could not stop the double talk of the villagers' gossip. Damn their biases and prejudices.

The only thing that actually kept the boys safe from the villagers' words was the (waning) influence of the Uchiha clan and the Third's law. Naruto and Sasuke both grew up alone, outcasts of their own society. But soon, that would all change, because already, fate had been decided. Konoha's Jinchuuriki had been born, and the world would never be the same.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** Edit: Updated! Tried to improve quality of writing and characterization. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	2. Chapter 2: Brothers, Now and Forever

Chapter 2: Brothers, Now and Forever

* * *

><p><strong>Six years later<strong>

A six year old Naruto was at the park, alone. The sun shone down on him, glaring in its midsummer heat. He was swinging back and forth, watching the other kids laugh and play with their friends, with their parents looking on with smiles. He looked at them with a hint of sadness and envy, but also anger. He was an outcast. Though he was surrounded by dozens of kids and adults, nobody even looked at him, much less talked to him. If a child even stole a glance at Naruto, their parents quickly swooped in to correct the breach.

Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew what was happening to him. The young boy released a heavy sigh filled with sadness and loneliness. For one so young, he was subject to a life no child should ever have been exposed to. He wanted to have friends. He wanted to have fun. He wanted to have parents. But that was impossible. They hated him. All of the adults hated him, and made their kids hate him too. He just wanted to be seen!

At the orphanage, nobody had cared about him at all. In fact, the caretakers did their best to make life miserable for him, and the other kids weren't nice at all. He couldn't explain it, but it was like there was a chasm between him and everybody else. Life was on the other side, but hate had burned down any bridges across. But Naruto would soon find that he wasn't alone, and there were others with whom he could share the pain.

But here he was at the park, alone. How was Naruto supposed to know that today, his destiny would begin. Just a couple of days ago, after being offered a spot in the ninja academy, as soon as he could, he had left his old orphanage. Everybody was glad to see him go anyways. When he first left, he barely had anything, not even a place to stay, but the Third took care of that.

Naruto smiled at the thought. The Third Hokage was probably the only person - oh wait, there's Teuchi and Ayame, the owners of Ichiraku's ramen shop - whom Naruto considered his friends. They truly cared about him, and there was no hate.

FLASHBACK

"Hey, Teuchi-san! Can I have another bowl of ramen, please?"

Teuchi glanced at his favorite customer, and chuckled. "Sure thing, kid. Seeing how this is your fifth bowl, I'll give you this one on the house!"

"Really? Oh, wow! You're great, Teuchi-san!" Naruto yelled out, inhaling his current bowl of noodles. Looking on, Ayame, Teuchi's 12 year old daughter laughed at Naruto's antics.

"You're cute, Naruto, but you should really slow down when you're eating. You might get indigestion."

"Nah," (slurp). "I've eaten faster than this before, and I'm always just fine afterwards."

Ayame shook her head, and went back to work, cleaning the counter with a smile on her face.

Teuchi chuckled and turned back to his work, making another batch of ramen.

Just then, the curtain behind Naruto flapped open, and an old man walked in, smoking a pipe.

Naruto grinned at the smell and turned around. "Gramps! It's great to see you!" Then he threw himself at the robed man, hugging him fiercely. Teuchi and Ayame laughed happily. The first few times the Hokage had visited their ramen stand, both had been overwhelmed by the old man's presence, but had quickly warmed to the Sandaime's warm personality.

The Third Hokage chuckled, glad to see that Naruto was still as happy as ever. He had done his best to shield the boy from the brunt of the village's hate, but every once in a while, the boy would feel the brunt of the villagers' hatred.

Some underestimate six year olds, but even children understand when there is something wrong. Naruto was no exception and understood that some people hated and ignored him. What he wanted to know was why.

The Third, after hearing of Naruto's departure from the orphanage, arranged for the child to have an apartment, free of charge. The only thing was that Naruto would have to pay for food and clothing himself. But Hiruzen also took care of this issue as well, providing Naruto with a weekly stipend of cash. The only problems were the Council, trying to stop the Third's support of Naruto and time constraints.

The Hokage couldn't hang around too much because of his own duties, and Teuchi and Ayame were almost always busy. Besides, Naruto wasn't the only one whom the Third had to look after. Sasuke was also a Jincuuriki. Hiruzen hoped that things would work out for the two.

But for now, close friends had gathered together and they could have fun for one night.

FLASHBACK END

Naruto really wanted someone his own age to play with, so he wouldn't be lonely all the time. That's why he went to the park today. But as usual, all of the kids ignored him because their parents told them to. He knew it, even if they tried to hide it.

Finally, he couldn't take being ignored so blatantly anymore. _I'm getting out of here_, Naruto thought. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Naruto walked toward the park exit, head down, not really looking where he was going. He knew the people would avoid bumping into him anyways, like he was some kind of plague. *sigh* But as Naruto walked toward the exit, it was as if some invisible force was pulling him to some unforeseen location.

Coming from the other direction, a black-haired boy was walking toward Naruto, his hands also stuffed in his pocket, head down. He knew that people would try to avoid him as well. Neither expected what happened next.

On a collision course, neither boy looked up until they were right on top of each other, their shadows mingling. Looking up quickly, neither boy reacted quickly enough to avoid bumping into each other.

"Oof!" The two boys gasped out as they fell backwards.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The black haired boy yelled.

"What are you talking about, idiot! You ran into me, believe it!" The blonde boy yelled back. Both boys got right in the other's face, glaring daggers. Both boys curled their fists, ready to duke it out. But not even a possible fight made any adult pay any attention to the two boys. In fact, if anything, it made al the adults _more_ intent on ignoring the two.

But just as soon as the tension appeared, it disappeared, the blonde breaking out into a wide grin. Naruto didn't know what it was about this guy, but he liked him a lot, even if he had just met him. Maybe it was that he didn't ignore him completely. Little did he know, the black-haired boy was thinking much along the same lines.

The other boy looked confused and slightly bewildered at Naruto's grin. "Huh?"

The blonde's grin got even wider. "I like you. So what's your name? My name's Naruto Uzumaki, believe it! So you wanna play?"

Naruto looked expectantly at his hopeful friend, who still looked very confused.

"Wait a sec, I thought we were fighting."

"We were fighting, but now I'm introducing myself. So what's your name?"

"Um… Sasuke Uchiha…"

"Cool!" Naruto said. "So you wanna play?" Naruto's wide smile hid the nervousness wracking his small frame.

Sasuke looked at Naruto suspiciously. Not many kids wanted to be his friend, and nobody had ever asked him if he wanted to play.

"Um, I don't know, my brother has to pick me up soon."

"Oh," Naruto said, slightly disappointed. "Too bad. Hey, are you going to be a ninja when you grow up?" Naruto asked, abruptly changing the direction of the conversation, hoping to prolong his time with someone who didn't ignore him.

Sasuke nodded, slightly bewildered at the pace of his conversation with Naruto, but happy to talk about something familiar. "Yeah, definitely! I'm going to be the best ninja ever! Everybody in my family is a ninja, and they're all really good! Especially my brother! He's one of the best! He's already an ANBU, and he's only 13!"

"You have a brother? And he's in ANBU? That's so cool!" Naruto exclaimed. Even though he was still a kid, Naruto had made it a point to learn about ninja early on. Also, having a brother was something that he always dreamed of. Naruto couldn't help but be jealous of Sasuke's situation.

Sasuke grinned and nodded. "Yeah, he's pretty cool, but he's so busy, he sometimes doesn't have time for me…" Sasuke trailed off sadly. Naruto noticed the change in Sasuke's tone. _Hmmm. I guess there are still some downsides even when you do have a family,_ Naruto thought. All of a sudden, he wasn't feeling so jealous.

Then Sasuke piped up again, his gloom evaporating. "So does this mean that you're gonna be a ninja?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Definitely. I wanna be like the Hokages, especially the Fourth, because everybody respected them because of their power."

Sasuke nodded. Respect was definitely something that an Uchiha understood. Respect came with power and being a strong shinobi. Just look at his brother.

"But most of all," Naruto continued, "I want people to respect me and acknowledge me!"

Sasuke widened his eyes, hearing his own dream come from Naruto's mouth. He, like Naruto, had been noticeably ignored by the villagers. He wanted them to respect him and acknowledge him for the same reason as Naruto.

"Wow! That's my dream too! Well, kinda. I also want surpass my brother one day," Sasuke said. With the ice broken, both boys began to walk around the park, chatting amicably. For Sasuke, it was heaven, as he finally had someone who he could relate to. For Naruto, it was the best moment in his life, because he had found a new friend.

While the boys were talking, the adults had slowly trickled away from the boys, taking their kids with them. Both boys noticed the hateful glances sent their way, but ignored them, not wanting to ruin the moment with their new found friend. After shortly elaborating on their dreams, both boys were ready to stop talking and start playing. And just then, Naruto remembered what he had in his pockets.

"Hey, Sasuke, check this out," a grinning Naruto said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a kunai. And this wasn't any practice kunai with blunted edges. It was a real, bona fide shinobi-issue kunai weapon!

Sasuke's eyes widened. Reaching out to Naruto's outstretched hand, he gripped the kunai, turning it over. "Whoa! That's so cool! My mom and brother won't let me near any ninja weapons. Where'd _you_ get it?" Sasuke asked.

"I picked it up in the garbage. Some store owner must've been throwing out some ninja equipment." Naruto said nonchalantly. The truth was, he had walked in a store and picked up the kunai, when the store owner realized his presence. He had been kicked out, literally (he had the bruise to prove it). The owner had then thrown away the kunai in his dumpster out back, from which Naruto had scrounged for the weapon. His backside was slightly bruised, but he got a free kunai at least!

Sasuke didn't notice Naruto's passing scowl and replied, "Aw man! You're lucky! My parents won't let me touch the stuff till I'm old enough. But when I am, they said that they'd start training me!"

"Oh man! You're so lucky you have someone to train you! I won't be able to train until the academy," Naruto said, a wistful smile on his face. He was happy for his friend, but a little jealous at the same time.

"Well-" Sasuke stopped in mid-phrase. He knew what he was going to say. _Well, you can come over and train with me!_ But he was an Uchiha, and Uchiha don't mix with common people…

Naruto looked at Sasuke, confused. "Well what?"

Sasuke came to a decision. Forget the rules! Naruto was his first friend, and he wasn't going to be a jerk. "I was going to say, 'you can come over to train with me.'"

Naruto's eyes bugged out. "Really? That's really nice! Thanks, Sasuke! Nobody's ever asked me to come over to their house!"

And with that, Sasuke smiled a small smile, glad that he had made the decision. "In fact, you can come over today! We can play with the kunai!"

Naruto grinned. "Sweet! This is the best day of my life!" Naruto yelled out, surprising several adults around him and even breaking through the inscrutable mask of the villagers, if but for a moment. But as the boys were starting their game of ninja, a young man strode into the park. The people parted around him like the red sea. Itachi Uchiha was at the park. Seeing his younger brother playing with another boy, the young teen moved deeper into the park.

"Sasuke, who's your friend?" Itachi said, approaching his younger brother.

"Oh, nii-san! It's great to see you! This is Naruto! I met him today. He's coming over too!" Sasuke said, smiling.

Itachi was a little surprised. _How did that happen?_ _I wonder why Naruto's parents let him befriend Sasuke. Kami knows the villagers hate us._ Considering Sasuke's own quiet tendencies and the villagers' prejudices, it was a miracle that the two seemed to hit it off so well. But then, a light turned on in Itachi's head. Naruto… Could it be Naruto Uzumaki? The Jinchuuriki? Who else would be named after a ramen topping? _That explains it,_ Itachi thought.

Even at 11, Itachi was incredibly observant. You didn't call somebody a demon without some truth behind the label. But whatever made his brother happier was alright in Itachi's eyes, as it wasn't everyday he saw Sasuke as happy as he was now.

"Well, hello Naruto," Itachi said with a small smile. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't a stone cold killer. Just a shinobi who knew how to do his job effectively.

"It's nice to meet any friend of Sasuke's," Itachi continued.

Naruto flashed a grin at Itachi. "Hey, you're Sasuke's ANBU brother! He says you're a great ninja, and that he wants to beat you one day! You seem pretty cool too!"

Itachi was slightly taken aback by the boy's upfront personality, but gave another small smile. "Oh, is that so, eh? Well, Sasuke'll need to work a little harder to beat me up. Isn't that right, scrunch?" Itachi smirked, frazzling Sasuke's hair.

Sasuke grumbled a bit, something about how he would be stronger one day. Itachi's smile only grew wider. For his own sake, as well as the sake of the Uchiha, he hoped that Sasuke _would_ grow stronger than him one day. There were people out there who were even stronger than him. And that was saying a lot, even if it was a little pompous.

"So you're coming over, Naruto?" Itachi said, breaking out of his thoughts.

"Yeah! I mean, if that's alright with you, nii-san?" Sasuke said for Naruto.

"Heh! Yeah, that's alright by me Sasuke. But what about you, Naruto? Do you wanna come over?"

"Yeah!" Naruto bobbed his head quickly. There was no way he _wasn't_ going to go over Sasuke's. He finally had a friend now!

"Alright then!" Itachi said with finality. "Let's go. I have some business to take care of after dropping you guys off." Striding off quickly, he didn't even bother looking back, knowing that Naruto and Sasuke would hurry to catch up. He listened to their chatting and laughing as they walked through the streets of Konoha. It was a nice contrast to the glares he noticed the villagers shooting them.

Thinking about the village, Itachi couldn't help but let a little resentment leak out. He noted with satisfaction that people were turning away as they felt his bleeding killing intent. He hated the prejudice and fear that gripped people so tightly that they couldn't see what was right in front of them. Yes, the Uchiha were still the bulk of the police force, but they no longer had the respect that they once had. Not only that, but people started to fear the Uchiha. And that fear grew into mistrust, and soon into prejudice.

_But not now_, Itachi thought. _For now, we're happy, and the only way to go is up_. Arriving in front of the gates of the Uchiha compound, Itachi pushed open the gate and ushered the boys in.

As they entered the compound, many of the Uchiha gave Itachi bows and greetings. He was their pride and joy, one of the true prodigies of the village. He was 11 and already an ANBU. What was there _not_ to be proud of?

Soon, they arrived at Sasuke and Itachi's house. The elder brother dropped the boys off at the front door, telling them to stay inside since mother wouldn't get home till another hour. Then, he shunshin'd away in a shower of leaves.

Both Naruto and Sasuke gaped at the sight. "Whoa, way cool!" Naruto said.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Now that's the kind of ninja I want to be when I grow up!" Naruto said, turning to Sasuke with a grin.

As soon as the boys got inside, they decided to play ninja with Naruto's kunai. They were having so much fun, that neither boy heard Sasuke's mother coming through the door.

"Sasuke-chan… What do you think you're doing with that kunai?" The air froze around the boys as they felt a wave of fear wash over them.

"Oh crap!" Sasuke whispered to Naruto. "Mom's home, and she caught us with ninja weapons!"

Naruto remembered what Sasuke had said about Sasuke's parents and ninja tools.

_I've gotta get outta here!_ But before he tried to make his escape, he remembered that Sasuke was now his friend, and friends don't ever abandon friends. Not that he would actually be able to escape a trained shinobi like Mikoto Uchiha. With that, Naruto gulped, as he and Sasuke turned to face the harbinger that was Sasuke's mom.

"Hi Uchiha-san. Uh… I can explain," Naruto started shyly. And just as suddenly as the wave of killing intent came, it left. The sun shone again. Apocalypse was postponed, for a few minutes at least.

Sasuke's mom blinked. "Oh, why hello… Who's your friend, Sasuke?"

Sasuke was confused. Was it just him, or did Naruto have that effect on people. It was probably Naruto.

"Um… This is Naruto Uzumaki. We met at the park today."

Mikoto Uchiha's eyes widened as she realized that her son had made a new friend, and he had invited him over, of all things! Contrary to popular belief, most Uchiha were quite open and friendly with other clans, but it was a small group of upstarts who liked to use their clan status to lord over others. Stupid idiots gave clans the world over a bad name.

But then, she took a closer look at Naruto. This was the boy that Fugaku was talking about, Kushina's son. He looked nothing like his mother. He had inherited his looks from his father, she could easily tell.

But that meant, that Naruto was also the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi's Yang chakra. Interesting that he met with Sasuke in such a coincidental manner.

Mikoto then smiled warmly and greeted Naruto. "Naruto-chan, it's very nice to meet you. I hope you come over more often."

"Yeah," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks for having me!"

"Mom!" Sasuke groaned out. "Can we get back to playing, please?" Sasuke pouted with his puppy dog eyes.

Mikoto smiled in amusement. "Alright," she said. "But you better not let me catch you playing with kunai again, got it young man?" Snatching away the offending weapon, Mikoto glared at her son to get her point across.

Both boys shivered involuntarily at the sight. Who knew what Sasuke's mom could do. Make them stand on one foot and hold onto both ears? Take away ramen for a full week? _Better to not go there_, Naruto thought fearfully.

Satisfied that she had gotten her point across, Mikoto turned back into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. Calling out with an overly sweet voice just to intimidate Naruto and Sasuke a little more, Mikoto said, "Have fun, children!"

Naruto, who was about to show Sasuke some other ninja stuff he had found, thought better of it.

Sasuke shivered, but also shrugged. "At least I got away about the kunai thing."

Then Mikoto's voice rang out from the kitchen again. "And Sasuke… We'll be talking _after_ dinner."

Both Naruto and Sasuke clammed up, hearing Mikoto's tone. "Great. Me and my big mouth," Sasuke muttered, feeling a chill crawl down his spine as he thought of what their _talk_ would be like.

"Haha! It can't be that bad, can it?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke gave Naruto a hard look. "You have no idea." He felt another shiver crawl down his spine.

"Yeah…" Naruto said, slightly disconcerted at Sasuke's fear. "Ok... So what do you want to do now? Or, what'll your mom let us do?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Beats me. We can probably go out back and play tag or something. You wanna?"

"Yeah, sure! But what's tag?" Naruto said, confused. Nobody had ever told him about games like this before.

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. "You don't know what TAG is? It's only the best game ever! My brother makes clones and plays with me all the time. Sometimes his friend, Shisui comes over! You can do so much stuff with it! Hide-and-go seek tag! Zombie tag, but that needs more than two. Freeze tag! Everybody-hit-nii-san-with-paintballs tag! It's great!"

"Wow! Sounds fun! Especially the last one!" Naruto said in excitement.

"Oh you bet! Just wait till Itachi gets back. He'll show you what's so fun about it."

In actuality, Itachi had just walked in and had overheard Sasuke tell Naruto about his special variation of tag. Itachi shuddered involuntarily. He was a die-hard ANBU. Heck, enemies of his friends of his friends feared him. But Sasuke was on a whole other plane. He remembered what had happened that day. Never before had he been in such mortal danger. Not even on his ANBU missions. Sasuke was a devil with his paint. And Shisui was no help either, blatantly encouraging Sasuke. Itachi ground his teeth, remembering his so-called friend urge Sasuke on.

"Wow, Sasuke! Great aim, buddy!" Itachi mocked under his breath. He still had to get Shisui back for that. Itachi got paint all over him that day! And it wasn't the water-soluble kind either. It took days to get the paint off, and weeks to get everybody to stop calling him 'Bobo the Clown'. Heck, even some of his targets made fun of his appearance. But they weren't laughing when they found out who he was, Itachi thought, smirking slightly, before shuddering again at Sasuke's tortur- ahem, games.

Being an ANBU and being called Bobo did not help his dignity at all. Not one bit. Neither did the neon green, pink polka dotted hair. Nor did the red nose. Nor the- _Enough! No more thinking about that experience. It was bad enough once! Never again!_ Itachi thought frantically.

Determined to get out of the house before Sasuke noticed him, he left a hurried note about ANBU work for his mother. ANBU work that would suspiciously be over when dinner came around.

IIIIIIIII

The day after Naruto's visit to the Uchiha household, Fugaku Uchiha was thinking very deeply.

Minato's son had found Sasuke. He knew that it would eventually happen, considering the bond that the two unknowingly shared, but it was still a surprise.

The council would also be a pain in the neck. Most likely, they'll call me in by the afternoon to grill me over Naruto.

_But I must admit_, he thought, _he looks so much like Minato. And he's a lot happier than I would expect, considering that he has no family. What a brave lad._

_Mikoto and Itachi seem to have taken a liking to the boy as well. Mikoto knows about Naruto, and I think Itachi has already figured it out. He's a sharp one, my son._

_I'll have to tell them about who they really are, but not yet. Maybe another year, when they've grown up a bit. And seeing the two together like that…_

_I will need to start training Sasuke soon, maybe Naruto as well._

His mind made up, Fugaku left for the the Hokage tower, eager to talk to the Third.

IIIIIIII

Several months passed, and Naruto became a regular fixture in the Uchiha district. Everybody in the district knew him and his smile well. Most of the Uchiha had come to see Naruto as one of the Uchiha. Suffering had brought the two sides together. Especially when they saw how happy Naruto made the district.

Most of the time, he and Sasuke would run around the village, goofing around, playing ninja, or pulling pranks. Then, Naruto sometimes stayed over for dinner and a sleepover with Sasuke's family.

Sasuke, normally a solitary and quiet boy, opened up around Naruto. It was still a wonder to those who knew Sasuke before he became friends with Naruto to see this change. In fact, this was one of those moments.

Itachi was walking along the edge of the Uchiha compound, near the edge of the woods, when he sensed some rustling in the bushes further up the path. He chuckled to himself lightly, immediately catching on to the ambush that Naruto and Sasuke had set up for him. This was one of their more obvious ploys. Sasuke and Naruto had been trying to peg him since Sasuke introduced his sadistic game to Naruto. Itachi had been on edge for a whole week now, always alert for their sneak attacks. The nerves were starting to get to him. But even now, he had to smirk at Sasuke and Naruto's attempts.

As he neared the boys' hiding place, Naruto jumped out, yelling savagely, "GET HIM!" Loosing off their paint-filled water balloons, Sasuke and Naruto jumped out of a bush, yelling their war cries as they ambushed Itachi. However, sneaking up on a highly trained ANBU was no easy matter.

Itachi easily dodged, almost unconsciously. "Sasuke! Naruto! When are you two gonna learn? You'll never get me!" Itachi was putting a brave front, b_ut even I have to sleep sometime_, he thought with worry.

"We'll never give up!" Naruto yelled out, Sasuke repeating the sentiment. Lobbing a fresh batch of balloons at Itachi, these were smaller, and faster. But for Itachi, they were child's play. Sidestepping easily, Itachi's danger sense suddenly pricked up, as he sensed something wrong.

Suddenly, the balloons flashed dangerously, releasing a low whining pitch. "What the-" BOOOM!

The balloons exploded right in Itachi's face, splashing paint all over him… before smoke erupted, and a paint-splashed log took Itachi's place. _Whew, that was close! I definitely didn't expect that! They've gotten better,_ A hidden Itachi thought.

Sasuke and Naruto gave a whine at seeing this, but they had expected this. After all, having a week to plan, fail, and re-plan can lead to very dastardly traps. Especially from 6 year olds like Naruto and Sasuke. Smirking to each other and giving devious grins, they waited patiently.

Itachi, who was several yards away, hidden in the same bush that Naruto and Sasuke had hidden in, looked on suspiciously. _What are they- No way! They didn't!_ Itachi thought desperately. Flaring his chakra out, he found several disturbances around him. _Crap! They did!_

But before Itachi could flee, the bombs that Naruto and Sasuke had littered all over the area, particularly the ones in the bush, exploded in a big bang… splashing him with a motley of bright reds and greens.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto yelled out in triumph.

"We did it!" Sasuke said, smirking at his older brother, who was trudging out of the bush… now decorated like Bobo the clown.

_Not cool. What the heck did they put in this paint anyway. It's impossible to get off!_ Itachi thought sullenly. _The guys are never gonna let me forget this, not after I got caught by my little brother… Again_. Itachi groaned at the thought.

"Sasuke! Why'd you have to do that?" Itachi moaned in playful complaint. He had to admit that seeing the conspiratorial grins on the boys' faces almost made up for the fact that he would be harassed for the next month. Almost.

Sasuke and Naruto smirked at each other. "Well, you know nii-san. We just wanted to show you how much we care about you!" Sasuke said with a tone much too sweet and innocent for any little terro - ahem - child his age.

Itachi face-palmed again, before realizing that he just got more paint on his face. "Ugh! This is gonna take forever to get off!" Itachi yelled out, which only made Sasuke and Naruto collapse in giggling fits.

To add insult to injury, an ANBU wearing a rat's mask dropped onto roof above Itachi and Naruto, already laughing. "Hahaha! Itachi! Is that you? Hahahaha! I can't believe it! They got you! Hahahahaha! You look like - Hahahaha! - a clown! Hahahahahah! Like Bobo! Hahahahaha!" Laughing hysterically, the rat masked ANBU dashed away to tell his friends about their great team member who had been felled by paint balloons and two 6 year olds. Oh this was too good!

Itachi face-palmed again, groaning at the fact that his face was now even dirtier and soon, everybody would know… again. _Ugh!_ He really had to stop that from happening. But then, a brilliant idea came to him.

He looked over at his brother and Naruto who were still on the ground, laughing with tears coming out of their eyes at the sight of an ANBU laughing at Itachi of all people! Ha!

But Itachi's gleam still hadn't left his eyes. "Oh Naruto, Sasuke. Come here, why don't you." Sasuke wasn't the only one who could adopt the guise of Innocent Mr. Perfect. "Why don't you boys give nii-san a hug, huh?" Itachi then ran forward, enveloping Naruto and Sasuke in a huge bear hug.

"Aahhh! Nii-san! Stop it!" Sasuke cried, kicking and pulling, desperately trying to get away from his older brother.

"Yeah! Itachi! Come on! It was just a joke!" Naruto cried, trying in vain to stop Itachi from getting paint all over him.

"Just showing the love, boys!" Itachi said, chuckling evilly while rubbing paint all over the boys' hair and faces.

By the time Itachi was finished. Naruto and Sasuke looked just as bad as Itachi, covered head to toe in paint. They glared at Itachi, slightly angry at how the older boy had turned their prank right on them.

Itachi just chuckled quite evilly. "Muahaha! I'm an evil nii-san," he said with a smirk. "That'll teach you two to mess with me. Now go home and get cleaned up. I have business to take care of." With that, Itachi leapt onto the roofline, ready to initiate phase two of his dastardly deed of revenge. _Good! The paint's still wet! Now, onto Rat. Oh for sweet revenge! Muahahahaha!_

IIIIIIII

After Naruto and Sasuke had made it back to Sasuke's house, they took out the secret solvent that they used to make the paint, and rubbed themselves clean. After a refreshing and cleansing shower, they waited by the front door for Itachi, ready with their smirks and grins. As they sat around Sasuke's front porch, an older woman walked past them on the road.

"Sasuke-chan, Naruto-chan, is that you?" she asked in a homely voice.

"Hi Auntie!" Sasuke said happily. He liked talking to Uruchi. She was so nice.

"Uruchi-san! Yeah, it's us! We just got back from ambushing Itachi!" Naruto said. He liked the old woman too. And the sweets she sold at her bakery. However, Ichiraku's still held the number slot in his heart/stomach. Nothing beat the sweet aroma of ramen. Aaaahh…

"Wow! Is that true Sasuke-chan? It's very hard to ambush your brother of all people," Uruchi said, with a little surprise and pride. It seemed that 'her boys' were growing up just fine.

"Yeah! We definitely got Itachi good! He's now all covered with our secret formula paint! He won't be able to get it off for days!" Sasuke said, grinning.

"Wow, you two boys are getting to be really good at your pranks. Maybe one day, the both of you will become great ninja, just like Itachi," Uruchi said, smiling.

Naruto and Sasuke just grinned at each other at the thought of being like Itachi one day. Too cool!

"Well, I've gotta run. A bakery doesn't run itself, ya know," Uruchi said cheerfully. She walked off to tend her store, but before she rounded the bend, she turned back to the boys. "Oh, and Naruto. You can call me Auntie too you know. It's only right since you're already so much like family."

Naruto could only just gape in surprise and pleasure. "Really! Thanks Auntie! You're so kind! We'll visit your shop for some sweets later! Believe it!"

"Thank you dear," Uruchi said kindly. She knew of Naruto's situation and its startling similarity to the Uchiha's. After all, Naruto spent so much time with the Uchiha, he was like family anyways. Uruchi waved goodbye to the boys before returning to her store.

The blonde, who was staring off into space, had to admit that it was nice being with a family that accepted you, even if they weren't your own family. It seemed the make the hurt of the villagers' view of him less important. He had people who actually saw him as a human. But there was bound to be trouble in paradise. Especially when a boy who has finally made a new friend, feels threatened by this new friend. Neither Naruto or Uruchi had seen how Sasuke had stiffened when he heard Naruto call Uruchi 'Auntie.' This was his family! And there was no way that Naruto could just come here and make himself a part of it just like that!

Sure, he liked Naruto a lot, but the guy seemed to be taking all of the praise and love from everyone he knew. It was subtle at first, but Sasuke really had taken notice at the way that Naruto seemed to be the center of attention now. Why did Naruto get all the attention?

By the time Itachi got home, Sasuke was already deep in thought, the escapades of the day lost in his young, wandering thoughts. But all Itachi could think was, _What the? How in the world did they get the paint off?_

As the days passed, and Sasuke really began to dwell on the attention lavished on Naruto, conveniently ignoring the same amount of attention lavished on him, he stopped hanging around Naruto too often. In fact, he began to draw away, slowly, hoping that the blonde would get the hint. At the grand age of six years old, Sasuke was still very much insecure about the way others viewed him. Seeing the affection showered on Naruto, from his own family no less, seemed to accentuate that insecurity.

But to his parents, both astute ninja, Sasuke was like an open book. Taking him aside one day, Fugaku and Mikoto both confronted Sasuke about Naruto.

Sasuke was mulling the issues of the world in his room. No, he was not whining, complaining, moaning, or griping. He was not brooding, nor was he sulking or jealous. He was absolutely not jealous! He was thinking about _that guy_ - Naruto - and how he had suddenly seemed to take over his life. Just yesterday, he called his mom, kaa-san! The nerve of that guy! He wasn't family, and he thought he could just come in and take his place! It just wasn't fair!

But as Sasuke sat broodi- I mean, mulling… his father of all people entered the room, falling on Sasuke's mattress, making the springs creak sightly. The window opposite him let light shine into the room, but Fugaku felt a little apprehensive at his son's attitude. He was acting very immaturely. But he was still a six year old boy. Fugaku kept that in mind as he looked at his son.

Contrary to popular belief, the head of the Uchiha clan was not cold or mean. He was a caring father who knew when to be strict, and how to place business and personal interactions in their own place. He was a professional. But with his family, if something demanded his attention, he gave it, no questions asked. Sasuke right now, had a problem that needed to be taken care of.

Sasuke opened his eyes to see his father. Quickly straightening up, he sat next to his dad, a little wide-eyed. If there was one person he admired as much as his older brother, it was his father.

"Father? What's wrong?" Sasuke said, a little worried. His father never came into his room unless they were going to have a 'talk'.

Fugaku closed his eyes as he thought about how he would say what he had to say. "Son, I noticed lately that you've been sulking in your room a lot-"

"I'm not sulking, Dad! I'm _mulling_! Big difference!" Sasuke cried indignantly.

Fugaku just raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Okay. Mulling. Whatever you want to call it son. But whatever you're doing, it has to stop. Right now, son. Not only is it bad for you, it's bad for your family and friends, especially Naruto."

Sasuke's face darkened a bit as he heard his father mention Naruto. Even in his own room, he couldn't seem to escape the guy. He wanted to just deny his father's accusations, but for some reason, he just had to let it out.

"IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!" Sasuke yelled out suddenly.

Fugaku only continued to stare at his son. He had suspected as much. "Naruto's fault, you mean?"

"Yeah!" Sasuke yelled. "Ever since he came over here, everybody's been paying more attention to him than to me! He's taking my place! I don't want you all to forget me!" By now, Sasuke was sniffling a little. He was too old for crying after all.

He was also letting a little of his fear out, that he had been hiding behind his jealousy. "I don't want to be forgotten is all. I just don't like Naruto!"

Fugaku decided that now would be a good time to set his son straight. "Sasuke, listen to me," he said, his voice stern and serious. Sasuke immediately sat up straight. This was his father's no nonsense voice.

Fugaku continued. "Sasuke, I know you're worried that Naruto might be taking your place-" Sasuke looked like he wanted to protest, but Fugaku raised his hand, stopping Sasuke. "But, you must realize that you are our son, and nothing can ever change that. We've given you attention since your birth. Your mother and I, we both love you, just as much as Itachi."

At this, Mikoto, who had been waiting outside of Sasuke's room, walked in. "That's right, dear. Never forget that. You're precious to us, and we'll never stop loving you." Mikoto sat right next to Sasuke, hugging him and comforting her son.

Sasuke melted into his mother's touch, grateful for his parents' reassurances. Then Mikoto continued at a look from Fugaku. Pulling away, she spoke to Sasuke. "Honey, although you have a family to love you, Naruto doesn't."

Sasuke's eyes suddenly got wide-eyed as he thought about what that meant. Naruto was an orphan? That didn't make sense. He was always happy! How could he not have parents?

"You mean, he's an orphan?" Sasuke cried, his jealousy for Naruto forgotten as the kindness that his parents had drilled into both him and Itachi came out.

Fugaku now spoke up. "That's right, son. That's why we've been trying to make him feel welcome with the Uchiha clan. Both he and us share the same kind of suffering." Sasuke wasn't really sure what that last line meant, but he didn't have time to think on it as his father continued. "So think about how you've been acting towards him lately, and how that must have made him feel. You were his first friend, and now, you've suddenly pushed him away."

Sasuke looked down in guilt. He _had_ been pushing Naruto away. Suddenly, he bolted up. "I'm gonna make sure that he knows that he can still be my friend. In fact, since he doesn't have a family, he's gonna be my brother!"

The young boy ran out of the room, intent on finding Naruto. Five seconds later, he popped his head back into his room. "Uh… Thanks mom and dad for telling me about Naruto. I'm sorry I was being such a jerk."

Then in a flash, he was gone again, ready to repair his relationship with his friend. Mikoto and Fugaku smiled at each other, seeing Sasuke happy again, his friendship with Naruto restored.

Then, on the spur of the moment, Fugaku wrapped his wife in a hug. "Now that Sasuke's gone, and Itachi's on a mission, we have the house to ourselves," he said with a grin.

Mikoto suddenly slipped out of her husband's grasp. "Feeling naughty today, are we dear? Well, I have to start dinner. You know how our boys and Naruto get when they're hungry." Flashing her husband a wink, she sauntered out of the room, leaving Fugaku a little dumbfounded. _Tonight…_ he thought. _Yes, tonight_. Fugaku grinned before he too left to take care of some business.

IIIIIIII

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out, seeing his friend sitting on the park bench. "What's up? How come you're over here?"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, surprised. He thought that he didn't want to be friends anymore. "What? I'm over here cause I've got no one else to play with."

"Why?" Sasuke said, smiling. "You've got me to play with. Besides, I don't have anybody to play with too."

Now Naruto was really confused. "But I thought you said that you didn't really want me to come over anymore?"

"Uh yeah," Sasuke said, shuffling his feet in embarrassment. "You see… I was being stupid and thought that you were trying to take my place." He said in a rush.

Naruto blinked. "Yeah, that's pretty stupid." He said with a grin. "But why the change?"

"Well, I realized that I was being stupid, but I also thought that I was being unfair, because you don't have a family."

Naruto looked away sadly. He didn't want to think about it a lot. But he couldn't believe what Sasuke said next.

"That's why, I think we should be more than friends. So why don't we head to the park, eh bro?" Sasuke said, a little hesitant.

Naruto's head whipped up in surprise. "Really? You mean it? You want _me_ to be _your_ brother?" Naruto had never imagined that anyone would want him in their family.

Sasuke just smiled a broader smile in response. "Yup! I think I heard my mom say it… Oh yeah! Now and forever!"

Naruto had to pause and soak it in a moment. Never in his wildest dreams, could he have imagined something like this happening. Naruto immediately jumped up, feeling better. "Well what are we waiting for, bro! Let's play!" Sasuke grinned and ran off with Naruto, ready to do whatever dastardly deeds his new brother had thought up. He had forgotten how much he missed feeling so powerful. Oh yeah, this was gonna be a good day.

And with that, the legendary duo, that had almost been destroyed before it even started, was on its way to shaping destiny. But for now, playing pranks on the owner of the pet shop down the street was good enough.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm trying to spend as little time as possible giving background and setting up for plot. But I'm also trying to keep the pacing alright. Don't wanna just breeze through it. Anyways, tell me what you think. If you wanna criticize my pacing, tell me in my reviews and give suggestions to fix it, so I can revise it later. Alright, thank you readers and fellow writers. Peace out :D

**A/N: Part two:** Alright, the scenes I've added are small, but hopefully they do explain the plot in a little more detail. And to **magicaltoothbrush**, have no worries. Sasuke will still be an emo "teme". Just, give him time to develop his charming personality. Peace, and until the next chapter, which will hopefully be out soon. :D Also, I just realized my huge plot gaffe. I had written Sasuke as learning of Naruto being an orphan... before his parents told him. So, fixed that up quickly too. Enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3: Training Begins

**Chapter** **3:** Training begins

"Hey, little brother, wake up!" Itachi said, nudging Sasuke's sleeping form with his foot.

"Ugh! What time is it?" Sasuke groaned out, eyes squinted shut in sleep. The sun was shining through the window right over his face, making it hard to fall back asleep. Itachi smirked, as he nudged Naruto's sleeping form laying on the other side of the room.

"Today's the day you start official ninja training with the Uchiha prodigy… me!" Itachi said, pointing to himself.

Sasuke was so excited, he didn't even notice Itachi's self-praise. Immediately he bolted up in excitement, sleep forgotten. "Really?! Alright, let's do this!" In his haste, he kicked Naruto on his way to the shower. "Come on bro! Wake up! We start some real training today!"

Naruto groaned as he rolled over, trying to block out the sound of Sasuke yelling in excitement. It had been two years since they met, and both boys were now eight years old. _Ugh! I hate it when Sasuke gets like this! It's all Itachi's fault! He knows how worked up Sasuke's been over training! You want payback?! I'll give you payback!_ Naruto screamed out in his mind.

But in reality, all Naruto actually did was groan and roll over before falling back asleep, his brain already on autopilot. Itachi smirked and left the room. Naruto'd be up soon enough.

Naruto and Sasuke had started attending the ninja academy last year, and were already excelling. Well, Sasuke was at least. Naruto and book smarts were worst enemies. Naruto had the worst grades in the class, and since the first year of ninja academy was all about book academics, Naruto had been labeled the dead last.

That was something that Sasuke (and for that matter, Itachi, Fugaku, and Mikoto) just couldn't understand. Couldn't they see that Naruto was really smart? How could he plan village-wide pranks and not get caught for days after? (Never mind that sometimes ANBU didn't search very hard for Naruto) How could a 'dead last' successfully ambush Itachi, an ANBU captain, with paint balloons? He had the field-smarts, but wasn't that what really counted?

But Naruto didn't let it bother him, so neither did Sasuke. _Naruto's probably putting on a front, like Itachi does when he's in the village, but as long as Naruto knew that he doesn't have to act in front of us, it's alright_, Sasuke thought, turning off the shower. _Besides, Itachi's teaching me to be cool in public too! Now what'd he say? Oh yeah, it's all about the grunt!_

With that, Sasuke began practicing the infamous Uchiha grunt. Itachi, who was lounging outside, tossing a kunai back and forth with natural ease, suddenly heard peculiar noises coming from inside the house.

"Haaannn… Huunnnnn… Hummmmnnnn… Hurr… Hin!"

Itachi sweat-dropped as he recognized Sasuke's voice. _Geez little brother. It's just a grunt. It really doesn't take a genius to figure it out…_

Fugaku, who had just walked out upon hearing the noises, noticed Itachi's reaction. He chuckled to himself at the irony, remembering when Itachi himself practiced the Uchiha grunt. The house sounded more like a zoo for that one week. Ah good times! Besides, the Uchiha grunt was infamous, even more so than that nameless clan known for their white eyes. Not just any brooding emo punk could master it.

He walked over to Itachi to discuss how he was going to conduct the boys' training today. After much dealings with the Hokage, after all, the Uchiha are do not grovel or beg, the Third had finally agreed to let Sasuke and Naruto be trained together, but only after they had been in the ninja academy for a full year. Graduation was yesterday.

Fugaku was actually grateful that the Third had supported the idea of Fugaku's family being Naruto's caretakers or extended family, if you will, especially since Naruto and Sasuke had met on what appeared to be coincidence. It took a little persuasion, especially regarding Naruto's safety, but the Uchiha were renowned for a reason. Besides, if the Uchiha couldn't adopt Naruto, then why not just let him have sleepovers with Sasuke… everyday. Adopting Naruto without really adopting him. Loopholes. Gotta love 'em.

The Uchiha had also regained some of their trustworthy, if not friendly standing with the villagers. Life was going well. After getting back into the room and seeing that Naruto was still sleeping, Sasuke decided to have a little fun. Grabbing a cup of cold water, Sasuke made his way back to Naruto, splashing the contents all over the sleeping blonde's face. The result was instantaneous.

"AAAAHHHHH! We're under attack! PROTECT THE RAMEN!" Naruto bellowed out in a panic.

Sasuke was on the ground, laughing and rolling. "Hahaha! You shoulda seen your face! Priceless!" Sasuke said, gasping.

Naruto, on the other hand, glared at his best friend. Since the Uchiha's had offered him a place to stay in their home, Naruto had been sleeping with Sasuke in his room. The problem was, Sasuke was a morning person. Naruto was clearly not. The two often had clashes like this often.

"Gee, thanks, man," Naruto said sarcastically. "Just be sure I'll get you back for this!" He said, walking off into the bathroom. Both to plan and shower.

Sasuke just smirked. "You can try!"

After the boys were finished cleaning up, they ran outside to the Uchiha training ground, where they met Itachi and Fugaku. The chatter then exploded.

"So what're we gonna do today?"

"Super cool jutsu?!"

"Some awesome taijutsu moves?!"

"Or maybe kenjutsu?"

"Yeah, sword swinging! That'd be so cool!"

"And then lunch!"

"Yeah, and Ramen! Maybe a Ramen Cook Time Reduction Jutsu!"

"…" At this, Itachi, Fugaku, and Sasuke all sweatdropped.

Naruto just remained in his little dreamland as he thought of all the possibilities. No more waiting for three minutes for Ramen to cook! He could have it in two minutes, or maybe even one minute. Or… Instantly! Naruto started jumping up and down in joy, screaming joyously as his mind suddenly skyrocketed into a heavenly fantasy that had never been stepped in before by man or child. That is until now.

Before Naruto collapsed from his thoughts, Fugaku decided that he should start things up. "Ahem." Clearing his throat, he waited for the boys to turn their attention to him. It wasn't long before both boys snapped their eyes up to look at Fugaku, immediately quiet and focused.

Fugaku was pleased. It showed that like Itachi, they could prioritize and focus. But he had to capitalize on it now, knowing how eight year olds could get.

"Alright. So what we're actually going to do today is to get an idea on where the two of you stand in raw talent, and how we can proceed from there. Understand?"

Both boys nodded, wide eyed. They were so ready for this!

Itachi hid a smirk at seeing their expressions. This was going to be fun payback for those paint balloons a year ago. He still hadn't gotten them back for it, but now, their guards were down. Hehehe.

Fugaku too was pleased at the boys' initial reaction. He just hoped that it would stick. He wanted to prove to naysayers that the best shinobi were not weapons or tools, but human beings. What better way than to start with the two boys who were supposed to be weapons. His own son and the son of the Fourth Hokage.

In fact, he himself and Itachi were prime examples of shinobi who could prioritize emotions and battle. Except for the fact that his son had been acting a little distant as of late. Not to mention that he had been coming and going quite frequently and unexplained as well.

But pushing those thoughts aside for another time, Fugaku resumed his instructions. "Alright, Sasuke, I want you to go with Itachi to the training arena, where you will be tested in genjutsu and taijutsu."

Sasuke nodded and practically dragged Itachi over to the arena.

"What about me, tou-san?" Naruto asked.

Fugaku turned back to the blond bundle of energy, eyebrow raised. It had been a while since Naruto started calling him Oto-san and Mikoto Oka-san. Fugaku had to admit that it was nice. Although he couldn't formally adopt Naruto, this was as close as he could get.

"You?" Fugaku asked, slightly teasing. "Well, let's see. After taijutsu and genjutsu, there's-"

"Ninjutsu!" Naruto interrupted, excited.

_So he's not a complete scatterbrain when it comes to academics._ Fugaku thought wryly. "That's right. Let's go over by the lake." Leading the group to a small pond with a fishing dock, the Uchiha clan head strode out to the end. Turning around, he said to Naruto, "So Naruto, I assume you know what chakra is, and how you use it for ninjutsu?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. People who heard about his Academy grades sometimes assumed he was an idiot. He just couldn't work with the numbers, dates, and people that the Academy curriculum loved too much.

"Yeah. Chakra is made from your body, and you use hand signs to mold the chakra to do whatever jutsu you want. The better you get at it, the more jutsu you can do!"

Fugaku smiled at the simple, yet accurate explanation. They'd get to the more complicated stuff later. "Good. And for the record, I don't think you're stupid. I just need to make sure that you have the basics."

Naruto grinned at that. "You bet I have the basics! Now let's get to the jutsu!"

Fugaku smiled at Naruto's impatience. "Patience is a virtue, Naruto. Remember that." Seeing that Naruto was about to speak up again, Fugaku continued hurriedly. "But what I'm about to show you is called the **Fireball** **Jutsu**."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Isn't that an elemental jutsu?!"

"Yup," Fugaku said nonchalantly, but secretly pleased that Naruto knew more about jutsu than he let on. "Fire Release, to be specific. Depending on your chakra control and chakra capacity, the jutsu can range from C-Rank to B-Rank. Do you know about the rankings?"

Naruto shook his head. "I remember Iruka-sensei talking about it, but I wasn't paying attention," Naruto said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

Now Fugaku was shaking his head. _Well, I couldn't have gotten lucky for everything it seems. I'll have to talk to him about his grades though. He is associated with the Uchiha after all_. But Fugaku shook his head of these thoughts for now and continued.

"That's fine for now, but make sure you listen in the future. E-Rank is Academy level. What this means as that anybody who has had experience with molding chakra can potentially perform these jutsus. Your Bunshin, Substitution, and Henge are E-Ranks. But don't let their ranking fool you to their many uses."

Mildly surprised that Naruto was still paying attention, knowing his sort attention span, Fugaku hurried to his next explanation.

"D-ranks are close to E-Ranks, but require more chakra control and chakra. Like E-Ranks, they are usually nonlethal, and usually fall under the general category Ninja Arts. However, this doesn't mean that there aren't A-Rank jutsus that are classified under Ninja Arts. It just so happens that most D-Ranks are ninja arts. Got it?"

Naruto nodded his head, easily following. Somehow this was much easier than reading it.

"Next is C-Rank. C-Rank goes from mildly dangerous to potentially lethal. These take good control and usually low chuunin levels of chakra."

"Ok… C for chuunin… got it." Fugaku frowned but bit back his reply. It was good enough for now.

"Ok… not how I would have put it, but good enough. B-Ranks definitely require chuunin levels of chakra and above average control. These are usually lethal for non-shinobi, and still quite injurious for shinobi."

"Injurious?" Naruto asked.

"They hurt." Fugaku said simply.

"Oh. Ok! Got it!" Naruto said with a bight smile.

Fugaku smiled once again at the boy's sunny demeanor.

"For A-Rank, all you need to know is that you need near perfect control and jonin level reserves. The final level, S-Rank, requires perfect control and kage level reserves to be performed more than once in a battle. Got it?"

Naruto nodded. "Alright, so bring on that S-Rank!" The blonde said, pumping his fist in the air.

Fugaku chuckled amusedly. "We'll get to that later. For now, the Fireball Jutsu. Demonstration one."

Turning toward the pond, Fugaku made the tiger seal and took a deep breath. "**Fireball** **Jutsu**!" He called out, blowing out from his mouth a huge stream of fire which flew over the small pond. The huge fireball bathed the scenery in orange as it flew over the pond, dissipating with a loud swoosh.

Naruto stumbled backwards in surprise and fell on his butt. "Whoa! What the… how… where… THAT WAS AWESOME! "

Fugaku chuckled. He had grown used to Naruto's outbursts of emotion by now. "And you are going to learn how to do that now."

Naruto was immediately on his feet, wide-eyed and all ears. "I'm ready!"

Fugaku chuckled again. "Here is the hand sign you'll need to make. I assume you were taught hand signs in the Academy?"

"Oh yeah. Sasuke and I memorized most of them as a sort of game," Naruto said nonchalantly, easily forming the tiger seal.

Fugaku was slightly surprised and impressed. The boys didn't say anything about learning the seals. _Got lucky, it seems. But I'll have to make sure they're accurate. Later_.

There was only really one technical issue that Naruto displayed, and that, Fugaku corrected easily. He hoped the same was for Sasuke and the rest of the hand signs they learned.

"Alright, Naruto. You've impressed me with your hand signs. Now perform the jutsu," Fugaku said, gesturing at the open water.

It was like throwing a cat in the deep end of the pool, the elder Uchiha knew. But this was a part of the test. Would Naruto figure it out without an initial explanation _(cough cough like cough Itachi cough cough)_ or would it take more than one try?

Naruto strode boldly up to the end of the pier and formed the hand sign, closing his eyes as he concentrated on feeling his chakra. There it was, flowing from his core all through his body, like wildfire. Tapping into it was easy enough, but where to put it.

Then Naruto remembered exactly how Fugaku had performed the jutsu. Taking a deep breath and pooling his molded chakra in his lungs, Naruto snapped his eyes open. "**Fireball Jutsu!**" He yelled out, releasing the pent up energy in his lungs.

Out came a spectacular jet of fire that was about the size of a tennis ball. It went five feet before sputtering out and dying. Naruto frowned in disappointment. That was thoroughly… anti-climactic. It was pathetic, and that was being kind.

"AWWW MAN! WHAT THE HECK?! THAT WAS LAME! WHAT HAPPENED!" Naruto yelled out indignantly, his eyes practically white with anger. "I thought I did everything right!"

"Hmm. Impressive." Fugaku noted with interest. He was slightly disappointed, but he wasn't going to turn his back on Naruto because of that.

"Yeah! It sucked monke- wait… what?" Naruto said, blinking in confusion. "Impressive?"

Fugaku smiled at Naruto's scrunched expression. "You did well!"

Now Naruto was really confused. Fugaku chuckled before explaining. "Haha! Let me explain from the beginning. The jutsu I just showed you is an Uchiha specialty. We take the jutsu and master it to such an extent that we can manipulate our chakra immediately and proficiently with only the tiger seal."

Naruto was beginning to understand, the light passing over the confusion in his brain. "Ok… So what you're saying is that Uchiha can do the jutsu with just the tiger seal, but… other ninja need more hand seals?"

Fugaku nodded at Naruto's perceptiveness. "Exactly. On top of that, I asked you to perform a jutsu you had never experienced before with no explanation of how the jutsu worked as well as giving you what some would consider insufficient hand seals. That you managed to release any form of fire is nothing short of amazing!"

Finally, Naruto seemed to understand what Fugaku was saying. "Oh! I get it! I'm gonna be an awesome ninja like Itachi when I grow up! Awesome! I'm gonna be so bada-"

FWAP!

Fugaku backhanded Naruto lightly over the head. "Watch your mouth!" Fugaku chided. "And I hate to break it to you, but Itachi managed to perform the jutsu perfectly the first time, under the same conditions."

Naruto's attitude was immediately snuffed out. "Awwww… Why'd you have to ruin my day like that, tou-san!"

"You were getting a big head. It's my job to keep you humble," Fugaku noted dryly.

"Yeah, whatever, tou-san! You're graying over anyways! It's time for us kids to take over!"

"You leave my hair out of this, Naruto-_chan_!" Fugaku said in retaliation. "Gray hair is better than baby fat any day!"

Naruto just harrumphed. "I'M NOT A BABY! I'm all grown up!"

Fugaku just scoffed. "It'll be awhile yet till either you or Sasuke for that matter will be able to overtake me."

Naruto whipped his head away rebelliously. But Fugaku kinda had a point. He couldn't even make a Fireball Jutsu… yet. _My day'll come! You'll see tou-san! I'll prove it to you, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kaa-san that I'm worthy to be considered a part of the Uchiha!_ Naruto thought.

Fugaku chuckled at seeing Naruto's rebellious streak. "Don't worry Naruto. One day, the younger generation will be destined to overtake the older."

"What do you mean, tou-san?" Naruto asked, his eight year old mind unable to comprehend what exactly Fugaku was getting at.

"Um… don't worry about it for now. Instead, now that I've seen your aptitude for ninjutsu, I want to see how well you can control your chakra!"

"Alright! Bring it on!" Naruto had no idea what he was in for.

IIIIIIII

"Hmmmph!" Naruto huffed out in frustration. It turned out that his chakra control sucked!

But truth be told, his control was beyond abysmal, and according to Fugaku, his control would only have worsened as he grew up.

Apparently, his chakra stores were huge for an academy student, and his body just wasn't capable of controlling so much chakra without practice.

"Good thing we're starting you on this so young, Naruto, or who knows how bad your chakra may have been in the future!" Fugaku had said, reprimanding Naruto's whining at being told he sucked.

"Besides, after a few more training sessions, you might actually be able to hold onto the leaf!" Fugaku had teased.

Naruto just huffed as he stalked over to Itachi's station. It was time for he and Sasuke to switch. As Naruto passed by Sasuke, he said, "Hey! How'd it go?"

Sasuke just groaned in response. "Ugh… Itachi beat me down… hard! Ugh… I couldn't even touch him! And I can't feel my right arm!"

Naruto smirked. "Ha! Are you kidding?! You couldn't handle Itachi? Well, you've got it easy now. Let _ME _take over! I was able to do the **Fireball Jutsu!**" Naruto said proudly.

Sasuke just scoffed though. "Uh-huh. Sure… I saw how your fireball went! It was pathetic!"

Naruto had the decency to blush at being found out. "Uh… well… whatever! At least I'll be able to touch Itachi!"

Sasuke just growled at Naruto's arrogance, his own competitiveness rising to meet Naruto's. "Heh! I'll be laughing afterwards when Itachi's giving _you_ the beatdown!"

"Whatever, teme! I bet you that I'll be able to at least land a hit on Itachi!"

"Oh you're on! I bet that I'll be able to do the **Fireball Jutsu** the first time! Unlike you!" Sasuke yelled back. Then realizing his friend's words, "Wait, did you just call me teme?!"

"Yeah, I called you teme, you teme! You couldn't even hit Itachi!" Naruto snickered.

"Whatever, dobe! You couldn't touch Itachi, or me for that matter, even if you tried!" Sasuke retorted.

"Oh, so I'm a dobe now, huh?! Well we'll just see how you do with some ninjutsu, eh teme?!"

"I can anything you do better, so bring it on, dobe!"

Both boys were glaring daggers at each other, lightning flashing between their eyes. Then, as suddenly as the tension came, it vanished.

"Hahahaha!" Both boys laughed out, falling backwards on their backs.

"Whatever! I'll take you on later, teme!" Naruto gasped out, getting up and offering his hand to Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked, getting his laughter under control. "Heh! I'll show what a dobe you are later, dobe!" Taking Naruto's hand, he pulled himself up. "But good luck with Itachi. He's tough!"

Naruto smiled at Sasuke's words. "Thanks man. Good luck with the ninjutsu thing too. Just think about it."

"Thanks for the heads up, bro!"

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, no problem. I'll be taking you down after I take Itachi down!"

Sasuke's competitive nature fired up again. "Like I said! I'm ready whenever you are!" Walking away, they raised their fists at each other, before grinning and laughing again.

The boys separated, each going to their respective destinations with smirks on their faces, confidence tanked up. Ah! Life was good!

Naruto, filled with confidence, approached a smirking Itachi. Naruto didn't even realize the danger that he was getting into. Itachi still had payback to give.

Remembering the paint-bomb incident, Itachi steeled his heart to make sure that retribution for his humiliation would be achieved.

"Well, well, well. Naruto, you look confident," Itachi said, smirking. "How'd it go with tou-san?"

Naruto grinned. "It went great, nii-san! Oto-san gave me an easy test! Did the **Fireball Jutsu** in one go!" Naruto boasted again. Alas, Itachi had seen his failed first attempt.

"Uh huh. It looked more like a Matchsticks Jutsu to me," Itachi teased, smirking.

Naruto again had the good grace to blush and realize that he had been caught in the same lie. _Don't I ever learn?!_

"Uh… well… you know… I kinda did it…" The blonde trailed off weakly. Itachi just continued to smirk.

"Uh huh. Looks like you've got a ways to go." Itachi said.

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "I'll get it one day, nii-san!"

Itachi laughed shortly. "Well, I'm here to test your genjutsu and taijutsu. So let's get started. Do you know what genjutsu is?"

Naruto piped up immediately. "Of course! Genjutsu makes your enemy see and feel stuff that's not really there! Except, they're easy to break, so they're not really useful at all!" Naruto finished strongly, fully confident in his statement.

Itachi hid his smirk, instead grinning mentally. Oh was Naruto in for a shock.

"Mostly right, Naruto, but I'm here to show you otherwise."

"So you're saying genjutsu is actually useful?! Ha! Not even you can be that good nii-san!"

"Well, if you're so confident that genjutsus are useless, why don't I test you out?" Itachi asked, his voice all too innocent.

Naruto missed it completely. "I can take anything you dish out! Bring it!"

"Alright Naruto. But because I don't want you to be completely over your head, here's a couple of pointers."

Naruto interrupted arrogantly. "Won't need 'em, but go ahead anyway nii-san." The blonde smirked.

Itachi just ignored Naruto, because he knew that he'd be eating his own words very soon.

"Alright, so what a genjutsu does is take over your chakra by pathways extending from your brain. You can break a genjutsu in by stopping your chakra flow, and then sending out a strong burst to regain control. By sending out a chakra pulse stronger than your opponent's, you send out heir chakra. Got it?"

Naruto scoffed. "Won't need it, since genjutsus so useless!"

"Alright, whatever you say, kid. Here we go," Itachi said.

Naruto was just fine for the next few seconds, until a heavenly scent ame from behind him. Glancing behind him, Naruto found three huge life-size bowls of ramen! In fact, there were bowls of ramen all around him. Oh, Kami! It smelled so good! And his stomach was rumbling a storm now. His young mind didn't even comprehend that what he was seeing was absolutely implausible.

But suddenly, just as the blonde reached out for the nearest bowl, it exploded, quite literally. And the soup didn't even splash on him!

Like a chain reaction, all the bowls around him exploded. "NNNNOOOO! The ramen is being destroyed! STOP IT!" Naruto screamed like a little girl as his worst nightmare unfolded before his eyes. Quick! He had to go to Ichiraku's and get a bowl.

But as he approached the stand, Teuchi came out with a sad look on his face. "Naruto," He began ominously. "I'm sorry, but the ramen shipments have stopped. Something about bandit raids or something. We won't have ramen for at least a year."

Naruto at that point, fell to his knees in despair, clutching his face, and muttering to himself like a man in a dream. "No… It can't be… it's gone… It's GOOOOONNNEEEE!" Naruto wailed out.

He broke down and started clutching his head, muttering to himself about the end of the world. But wallowing in his despair, Naruto began to see light at the end of the tunnel. _Wait, didn't Itachi-nii-san say that he was gonna put me in a genjutsu? Is this a genjutsu?!_

Naruto desperately got onto his knees. "I have to get out of this horrible place!" Putting his hands together in the seal he remembered Itachi showing him, Naruto tried what Itachi had instructed him to do. But after the umpteenth try, Naruto was still in a world deficient of ramen.

This was hell! This was worse than hell! "I'm gonna die here all alone! Without ramen!" Wailing and practically crying, Naruto dropped to his knees and broke down completely, a broken child forever traumatized by Itachi's cruel genjutsu.

In the real world, Itachi witnessed Naruto collapse and start whimpering, sucking his thumb. Itachi was a little conflicted actually. He had no idea that Naruto would be affected so harshly like that. It was a little comical… heck, it was hilarious! But Itachi figured that he had scarred Naruto's young mind enough. Having witnessed Naruto's breakdown, his revenge was complete.

Releasing the genjutsu, Itachi smirked as he saw Naruto laying on the ground in a fetal position, unmoving.

"Hey, little brother," Itachi said, shaking Naruto's shoulder. Like the rest of his family, Naruto had endeared himself to Itachi as well. _Ah arrogance… the downfall of promising shinobi. _Itachi thought, looking at Naruto and thinking on his own experiences.

Naruto opened his eyes groggily, shaking himself from the dreamworld of Itachi's jutsu. "Is it over? Is the ramen alright?" Naruto croaked out in a desperate and broken voice.

Itachi's smirk only grew wider. "Yeah, just a genjutsu. At least now we know that you suck at genjutsu. Tch."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled out indignantly, his ramen-crisis already locked away in a small part of his brain never to be brought back. "Besides, you put me in a genjutsu with the worst possible scenario ever! It was a gajillion times worse than hell! Not even Shinigami-sama would punish me like that!"

Itachi smirked, ever so infuriatingly once again. "You'll get over it. Think of it as payback."

Naruto just growled in response. "I'm gonna kick your butt for that!"

"Heh! You can try, squirt." Itachi chuckled.

Naruto just grew angrier. "Grr… Just cause I'm short doesn't mean you can call me squirt! I'll kick you into the ground, believe it!"

"Well, how convenient. Next up is taijutsu. We'll see just how good you are."

"Oh yeah! Bring it!" Bouncing up onto his feet, Naruto launched himself at Itachi, fists waving wildly.

Itachi had no trouble seeing the wild attack coming, and chose to thrust his arm forward into Naruto's chest, knocking the blonde boy down onto the ground. Itachi placed his foot on Naruto's chest.

"You're going to have to do more than that if you want to touch me, _squirt!_" Oh this was going to be fun.

"Graah!" Naruto yelled in frustration. Rolling out from under Itachi's foot. "You're going down nii-san! Just like the paint balloon incident!"

"Oh, you wanna bring that up? I'll admit, you guys caught me off guard, especially since I wasn't expecting you to booby trap the bush, but I'll show you how a real ANBU captain fights!" Even if Naruto was still an eight year old, Itachi had to save some pride.

After several failed attempts at wildly rushing in, Naruto somehow realized that he needed to calm down. Taking things slowly, he narrowed his eyes at Itachi.

"Good, you've calmed down," Itachi noticed, slightly impressed. He was sure that Naruto wouldn't be able to get his head on straight. "The surest way to lose a taijutsu fight is to lose your cool."

Naruto nodded, but he was screaming in his head. _I can't even land a hit! Sasuke was right. Itachi's good! Okay… I need a plan… Got it!_

"Alright, nii-san! This is it!" Picking up a rock next to his foot, Naruto hurled it with all his might at Itachi's head. Needless to say, Itachi barely moved, allowing the projectile to sail by his head, eyes closed in arrogance. "Ha! Is that the best you've got Naruto?"

Then suddenly, his instincts pricked up. Naruto was behind him! Eyes narrowing in concentration, Itachi glanced back to see that indeed, Naruto had appeared behind him. Itachi was immediately wary. Easily ducking under Naruto's kick, Itachi realized, _Substitution._

But then, Naruto threw another rock that he held in his hands straight at Itachi's downed head. _Interesting tactic. I won't be underestimating your abilities again, squirt. _

Expecting Itachi to dodge again, Naruto was surprised when Itachi raised his arm quick as lightning, easily plucking the stone from the air. Naruto wanted to punch down again when Itachi dodged, but now, with Itachi rising up, Naruto had no leverage to land a nice hit. Quicker than he could react, Naruto was caught in the chest by Itachi's free hand.

Throwing Naruto away with an easy motion, Itachi stood back up, smirking. "That was good, squirt!" He called out, as Naruto stood back up with a grunt of pain. Didn't think you'd be able to make a plan like that on the fly."

"Ow! Why'd you have to throw me like that?! And I would've had you too. I was close!" Naruto yelled out indignantly.

Itachi gave a small chuckle. "In a real battle, you would've been dead. It's time to learn how to be able to improvise when your plans go bad. And I threw you because… Uh, I don't know… I felt like it," He finished, a smirk crossing his features.

"Gah! I'll get you for that!"

IIIIIII

Itachi smirked as he looked down at his defeated opponent. He had beaten Naruto down too many times to keep of. Although he was talented, Naruto was still an eight year old going up against a 13 year old prodigy, recently promoted to ANBU captain, so it wasn't like he actually had a chance. His hits lacked speed and power, and his eyes couldn't keep up with even some of Itachi's slower movements. Sasuke was practically the same way.

However, Sasuke's instinctual battle skills were more potent and developed than Naruto's. Sasuke was able to form several straightforward tactics to try and overwhelm Itachi quickly. Several times, Sasuke was able to almost hit Itachi, quite a feat for any eight year old.

Naruto on the other hand, was able to develop unorthodox plans before completely giving in to frustration. Naruto's battle instincts were not quite as quick as Sasuke's, and it showed when he charged in with no plan at all. He became a one trick horse, relying on the same feints and tactics with minor variations to deal with his opponent.

All this information Itachi stored away for later reference. It was interesting to see their different fighting styles. Naruto was a brawler and relied on his in-the-moment intuition. This, combined with some of his unorthodox fighting strategies, would make a deadly combination, Itachi duly noted. Sasuke seemed more inclined to a mid range fighting style while also strategizing on-the-go. While not quite on par with some of geniuses in the Nara clan, Itachi had to admit that Sasuke's tactics were polished for an eight year old. They weren't as surprising as Naruto's, but they were more frequent and potentially deadly if combined with adept ninja skills.

Looking down at Naruto, who was spread out on his back, panting hard, Itachi gave a small chuckle. Holding out his hand to Naruto, Itachi said, "Alright, little brother. Training's done for today. Good job."

Naruto tiredly opened his eyes and looked at Itachi's offered hand. Sighing, Naruto flung his arm up and caught Itachi's hand. Pulling himself up, Naruto settled to glare at his nii-san. He was too tired for words. Itachi just laughed.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was just finishing up with his father's lessons about ninjutsu. Apparently, while he couldn't perform the **Fireball Jutsu** just yet, he was able to successfully perform Fugaku's chakra control exercises after a few tries.

Meeting up after the day was done while Fugaku and Itachi discussed what happened, Naruto flopped onto the ground with a sigh of relief. Sasuke fell down beside him.

"Ugh! Itachi was crazy today!" Naruto said in frustration.

"You're telling me! I had him first! Not to mention that tou-san's exercises were so boring!"

"Are you kidding! The chakra control stuff was so stupid and hard! Gah! I'm gonna need to work so hard!"

"Whatever, you probably didn't even hit Itachi, did you?" Sasuke asked, smirking at the memory of their previous bet.

Getting defensive, Naruto shot back, "So? You probably couldn't do the jutsu first try anyways!"

Frowning, Sasuke just turned his head away. "Dobe."

Naruto turned away. "Teme."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So I wasn't really sure exactly how to end this, but I think this is a high note. I'll finish up with training and another 3 years in the next chapter. Then after that, things'll start speeding up action-wise. It's just so hard to make back-story like this at times. A little tedious, but still worth it I think. I hope you guys liked what humor I tried to throw in. Leave comments and suggestions in reviews. Thanks guys.


	4. Chapter 4: Training or Torture?

**Chapter 4:** Training Part II

"Gah! Come on, nii-san! Loosen up! I hate getting stuck in your genjutsus all the time!" Naruto yelled out in frustration. This was the seventh genjutsu that he had failed to break, and it was the second worst yet, almost tied with Itachi's sick ramen-be-gone illusion, as his sadist of a nii-san liked to put it.

But this one, this was a whole different type of horror.

As soon as Naruto was placed under, he already felt a sense of sick dread hanging in the air. Looking around, he found himself in the streets of Konoha, alone. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a cloud of dust started to rise in the distance. Naruto squinted as he tried to make out what this phenomenon could possibly be.

Ignoring his overwhelming feeling of dread, Naruto's curiosity won out. Boy did he regret it. As the cloud got closer, he could make out several girls leading the charge. They looked scary.

For the first time, Naruto felt a horrible sense of dread creep over him.

"OOHH MY GOSH! THERE HE IS! NARUTO-KUN!"

"NARUTO-SAMA! WOULD YOU SIGN MY SHIRT!"

"MARRY ME!"

"TAKE ME!"

"YOU'RE SO CUTE!"

"AND STRONG!"

"AND BRAVE!"

"NARUTOOOO!"

Eyes widened in horror, the young blonde realized that this nightmare could only be one thing. The monster called… the fangirl!

"AAAHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed out like a little girl as he stood his ground for a full three seconds, trying to break the genjutsu. Realizing it was hopeless, Naruto screamed out again before literally running for his life. "STAY AWAY FROM ME! YOU FREAKS!"

Dashing around corners and stalls, Naruto couldn't lose the mob of fangirls, and not only that, but they were gaining!

Trying to run faster while at the same time trying to release the genjutsu, Naruto was running out of options. He was gonna die!

"ITACHI-NII-SAN! YOU CAN'T LET ME DIE! LET ME OUTTA HERE! I'M NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" Naruto cried out in desperation.

But Naruto had to learn the hard way. Finally collapsing in exhaustion, Naruto looked on in abject terror as the mob of mindlessly screaming fangirls fell upon him.

Trying to break away, he found himself assaulted on all sides!

"NOO! I'M TOO YOUNG TO GO LIKE THIS!" Succumbing to the mob, Naruto tried to crawl away, frailly lifting up his hand, as if reaching for any mode of salvation, before once again falling into blissful unconsciousness. And again, Naruto woke up to the ever-impassive Itachi, a small raise of the eyebrow and twitch around the lips the only indication of the amusement Itachi felt.

"Gosh darn it, nii-san! That was the worst one yet! You didn't hafta go overboard with that one, you know!"

Itachi now sighed. "Naruto, it's not what you see in the genjutsu, but how powerful the actual illusion is. I was barely using a fraction of my chakra."

"What the heck does that mean?!"

"It means that you can't even break my weakest E-Rank genjutsu, and that can be dangerous if you're going up against an opponent who has even a basic understanding, you're dead."

"Whatever, nii-san! I'll just find some other way to break your genjutsu!" Naruto yelled defiantly.

Itachi only shook his head. "The only other way to break a genjutsu is to have an ally inject you with their own chakra to properly disrupt your opponent's chakra."

"Hmmph!" Naruto turned his head away rebelliously, refusing to listen to reason.

Itachi didn't want to tell Naruto that self-inflicted pain could break a genjutsu, because even then, some genjutsu experts could still plant super-imposed genjutsus on the victim.

Sighing, Itachi went back to trying to get Naruto to calm himself enough to break a genjutsu. _It would also help if his chakra control weren't so bad_, Itachi thought. Both student and teacher sighed, knowing that this was going to be a long day. Itachi hoped that his father was having an easier time with Sasuke.

After graduating their third year of Academy, Fugaku had decided to up the ante in Naruto and Sasuke's training. Being eleven was fun, but genjutsu training with Itachi for Naruto could have been left out.

Despite that, though, the past three or so years were some of Naruto's happiest memories. He had come to see Sasuke's family as his own, and his bond with Sasuke and even Itachi for that matter, had only grown stronger. They bickered, of course, but it was always in good fun. Brotherly fun. Most of the time.

Naruto had also become fast friends with Itachi's friend, Shisui. He was a fun-loving teenager who had a penchant for pranks. In fact, it got so bad that Itachi called Naruto and Shisui's friendship a volatile combination from hell. When you threw Sasuke into the mix, the village had better watch out.

One of the latest incidents involved all of the pet stores in Konoha's richer districts. Somehow, all of the pets had gotten loose and into the backyards of all the residents there. The little gifts the pets brought with them left a stench in the district for several days.

One of the first incidents occurred when Shisui told Naruto and Sasuke about a little nightmare called D-Ranks. Newly made genin were made to perform menial chores, and they were called D-Ranks.

"Yup! The worst D-Rank is called, the Tora mission," Shisui told the two wide-eyed boys before him. "All genin hate it, and for a good reason. In fact, the Hokage hates it too, because the Tora mission always makes more paperwork for him and he hates paperwork!"

After explaining it to the boys, Naruto and Sasuke had gotten a very devious idea for their next prank. Shisui smiled at the look in their eyes. _All according to plan_, He thought with a chuckle.

Several days later, the Hokage found himself in the middle a mountain of paperwork his assistant swore had accumulated over the weekend. The old Hokage sighed as he hit his desk with his forehead.

Looking over the first few pieces of paperwork, the Hokage gave a groan as he realized what it was for. Damage that had resulted from genin teams chasing Tora. _Kill me now_, Hiruzen thought.

Then, Hiruzen glanced out of his window, straight at the hiding spot where he knew two boys would be hiding. Smiling wryly, he wondered how the two had been able to set Tora loose so many times in the span of a weekend. Those two would be a handful. _Heck, they're already a handful_, Hiruzen thought.

Then, glancing at another spot where he knew a more skilled shinobi hid, the Hokage let loose a glare in the general direction. Shisui, who was also having a laugh at the Hokage's expense, shuddered as he made eye contact with the Hokage.

Flickering away, Shisui decided that he would lay low for a while.

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage laughed as the three boys ran away quickly, their tails between their legs. Then he looked back at the paperwork. He stopped laughing immediately.

But life wasn't perfect. One day, when both boys were walking around the village alone, they encountered something quite unpleasant.

"Haha! You should've skipped class with us, Sasuke!"

Naruto and Sasuke were walking down the main street of the village, laughing about Naruto's latest incident of hooky.

He, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba had all run out on Iruka's class to play on the playground. Naruto had tried to get Sasuke to come with them, and Sasuke was about to say yes. Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba were some of his few classmates who treated Naruto and Sasuke relatively well. Then he remembered exactly what his mother would do to him if she found out.

"Nah," Sasuke had said offhandedly, but all the while interested in seeing what his mother would to do Naruto.

Sasuke had met up with Naruto after school to grab a bite to eat before they went to train with their father and older brother. The two were talking about their day. Or rather, Naruto was the one telling stories, since Sasuke's day was a boring one at school.

The two were going to head over to Ichiraku's when Naruto saw a sign for a new ramen restaurant.

"Woah! Sasuke! Look at that! There's a new ramen bar in town!" Naruto pointed excitedly at the restaurant.

Sasuke glanced over. "Yeah, so? We both know that it's probably not going to be as good as Ichiraku's."

But Naruto was too excited to listen. "Yeah, but they have a sale! All you can eat for 15 ryo!"

"Er… I don't know," said Sasuke. He was a little unsure about this for some reason.

But Naruto wouldn't take no for an answer. He dragged Sasuke over the restaurant, but as they walked through the doors, the owner of the restaurant saw them.

"Hey, you two kids!" He yelled out roughly.

Naruto paused to glance at the man. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Are you the owner?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, and you two need to leave, right now!" the man barked out.

"Why?" Sasuke asked. "We wanna have some ramen."

"I don't serve your kind here!" The man's face was quickly getting red, and the other patrons in the store were all staring at the two boys. Some of them had sympathetic looks, but most of the people were either apathetic or glaring at the two.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Naruto replied, getting angry.

"You know what you are, you monster! And you too, Uchiha! The lot of you are traitors!Monsters!" The owner hissed, trying to keep his voice down for the sake of his customers.

Naruto looked like he was about to start yelling back, but Sasuke quickly dragged his friend away from the restaurant.

"Naruto! Don't! Let's just get outta here!" Sasuke furiously whispered to his friend.

Naruto didn't look happy, but bit his tongue anyways. He settled for glaring at the owner of the ramen bar.

The two boys decided to forget about eating and rushed straight home to ask their parents about what happened.

Mikoto looked up as she heard her boys walk into the house. She sighed. She had gotten a visit from Iruka earlier during the day and found out about Naruto running out of class… again.

"Naruto, Sasuke! Can you come in here for a minute! We need…" Mikoto stopped as she turned around and saw the looks on the boys faces. "… to talk. Boys! What's wrong?! What happened?!" Mikoto said, rushing forward to meet her children. Over the years, she had come to see Naruto as a son. She and Kushina were close friends after all.

Sasuke was quiet, so Naruto spoke up. "Some idiot told us that we had to leave his restaurant cause we're demons and traitors! What did he mean?!" Naruto asked heatedly.

Mikoto hid her emotions very well, but she knew she was treading on dangerous ground. She cursed the man who had dared to vituperate her two boys.

"Naruto, Sasuke. Don't listen to that idiot or anybody else who talks like him. Their ignorant." Mikoto looked over to gauge the boys' reactions. Naruto was still heated up, and Sasuke was contemplative.

"But mom, he called us monsters and traitors," Sasuke mumbled.

"Listen to me, young man!" Mikoto said firmly. She wouldn't take talk like this from her own children. "You are not monsters, nor are you traitors! You're an Uchiha, and Naruto, we consider you as an Uchiha as well. If anything, _that_ man is a monster! He judges without getting all the facts! He judges what he doesn't understand! You are the farthest thing from monsters! You are my children, and I love you both very much."

Both boys looked stunned at Mikoto's outburst. They rushed forward and hugged Mikoto.

Mikoto hugged them back, her eyes sad. She knew something like this would come up, but why couldn't it wait a while?

The boys pulled back, smiling lightly. "But kaa-san, why did he call us monsters and traitors?!" Naruto asked, wanting to understand the man's prejudices.

Mikoto paused, before standing back up. "That's another topic for another time, boys. When you're older, you'll understand."

Turning back to her work, she ignored the confused looks the boys gave. In that instance, Fugaku walked into the house. He had caught glimpses of the ending of the conversation, and he too had to stop himself from going out and killing the owner of that ramen bar where he stood.

He only wished that he had been there to protect Naruto and Sasuke. The villagers feared and respected his presence, but when he was absent, the villagers who still clung to their prejudice grew bolder.

"All you two need to know for now," Fugaku said suddenly, surprising the boys, "is that he is talking about things that he doesn't understand or truly know. It is something that you two will learn only when you're older. Only when you're ready."

The two boys looked at each other, then nodded in determination. "We're ready! We want to know. " Naruto said. Sasuke nodded.

Fugaku smiled at the courage his boys displayed. But just then, Itachi walked into the room. He had just finished a mission and was ready to relax when he met up with his father. They were about ready to start training with Naruto and Sasuke, but stopped when they heard the conversation happening between the boys and Mikoto.

"You guys won't be ready until you prove to us that you're ready." He said with a smirk.

"How do we prove ourselves?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah! I want to know the secret!" Naruto said.

"Become chunin, and show your strength." Itachi challenged.

Glancing at each other again, an unspoken message passed between Sasuke and Naruto.

"Alright. Let's get training, then!" Sasuke said firmly.

Striding out of the house onto the training field, both boys didn't turn back. They were ready to prove their strength, and training was the only way to get stronger.

Mikoto, Fugaku, and Itachi shared a look and smiles. They were happy that they were able to support Sasuke and Naruto. They would have to teach them to show strength in the village, to prevent other incidents like this. This was a family effort.

IIIIIII

Over the next six months, both Sasuke and Naruto underwent a specialized form of training that suited to each of their individual strengths. Sasuke, who had easily broken Itachi's genjutsu, focused on how to utilize conventional genjutsu as well as to counter an opponent's genjutsu.

Sasuke didn't have nearly the same amount of trouble as Naruto had with genjutsu, but Itachi was a hard taskmaster. Like Naruto, it had taken some traumatic experiences relating to fangirls and… the consequences of slowing down for Sasuke to gain the motivation necessary to dispel some of Itachi's stronger genjutsus.

In fact, after finally getting the hang of dispelling, Itachi decided to start teaching Sasuke his very own genjutsu counter, **Mirror Heaven and Earth Change**. One of Itachi's unique jutsu, it allowed the user to recast a genjutsu after decrypting the inner working of he illusion. Combined with Sasuke's Sharingan that everyone assumed he would awaken, it would be a devastating combo.

Naruto on the other hand, was not at all taught genjutsu after (finally) mastering breaking genjutsu. Frankly, as Itachi stated and Fugaku affirmed later, Naruto sucked at genjutsu. Like a fish out of water… But at least he could break genjutsu now… as long his opponents weren't on Itachi's level.

Anywho… both Naruto and Sasuke underwent ninjutsu training with Fugaku and Itachi. Fugaku taught the basics, while Itachi gave the two simulated field training. So far, both had mastered the **Grand Fireball Jutsu** as well as the academy basics: **Henge*, Substitution, **and **Bunshin****. At least, Sasuke mastered the last one. For all of Naruto's aptitude with ninjutsu, he couldn't seem to make a regular bunshin.

Both Fugaku and Itachi were puzzled at this development. It appeared that Naruto had massive chakra stores, already at levels only conventional jonin had. His chakra control was decent though. Under average, but workable. It was puzzling, but they both came to the conclusion that Naruto's 'guest' was increasing his stores somehow. It accounted for his accelerated healing, but if Sasuke too had part of the same 'guest' sealed into himself, why didn't he have the same issues as Naruto?

It was something to think about, but until the answer was revealed, Fugaku decided to proceed as normal. He had taught them both chakra control exercises in the form of the leaf exercise. He forced the boys to use their chakra to hold onto five leaves at once, a leaf positioned at the palms of their hands, the soles of their feet, and their foreheads.

This was one of the more tedious exercises that Naruto hated. But if Fugaku's comments were anything to go by, his chakra control had improved drastically.

Fugaku realized that it was a good thing that he started Naruto's control when he was young. It would've been crap by the time he made genin. That is, _if_ he made genin with such horrible chakra control. Not to mention his too-massive stores.

Along with their chakra training, Fugaku also placed both boys under extensive taijutsu training. Fugaku, like Maito Gai, Konoha's eccentric jonin, was a fan of the old-fashioned method of training. Weights. Heavy weights. When they first started, Fugaku made sure that Sasuke and Naruto wore 15 pound weights on their limbs at all times. They were still kids after all. He didn't want to hinder their growth. But as they grew stronger and their growing accelerated, Fugaku increased the number to 50 pounds incrementally.

Naruto and Sasuke were both wearing those weights on their limbs now. Two eleven year-olds who could probably keep up with an experienced genin in terms of raw speed. Their form though, and experience regarding taijutsu was clearly not up to a chuunin's level. At best, they were mid to high-genin level. But they had time to improve.

Fugaku turned his thoughts back toward the spar he was having with the boys at the moment. It seemed that taijutsu was something that Naruto excelled at. Maybe more so than Sasuke, in terms of power, tactics, and stamina.

Dodging a flying kick from Naruto behind him, Fugaku blocked the coming punch from Sasuke, only to have to jump back to avoid Naruto's leg sweep. Alone, he could have easily taken the boys down at half power. But together, they were a well-oiled machine. The perfect team it seemed.

Naruto and Sasuke were panting. They glanced at each other, their eyes silently speaking. Nodding, they split up, hoping to take their opponent from two sides.

"Come on, kids! I don't have all day!" Fugaku taunted.

This seemed to rile up Naruto. "Oh yeah?! Well here I come!" Rushing in, Naruto whipped of several shuriken towards Fugaku.

The elder Uchiha, with all the skill of a shurikenjutsu master and a smirk to boot, deftly reached up and caught the shuriken with his fingers. Without turning, he threw them behind his back, to where he knew Sasuke was charging.

Sasuke, dodging underneath, prepared for a leg sweep.

At the same time, Naruto coming in high, settled for a straight punch.

Instead of dodging altogether, Fugaku swayed backwards under Naruto's punch, while at the same time hopping off the ground to avoid Sasuke's leg sweep.

Hovering parallel to the ground in mid air between the two boys, Fugaku grabbed the both of them by their shirts expertly. Twisting in a sudden movement, Fugaku slammed the two boys together, letting them fall the ground in a heap. Landing lightly on one hand, Fugaku propelled himself backwards.

Seeing that neither boy was getting up, Fugaku decided to call it a day.

"So. Guess we're done sparring for today."

Naruto and Sasuke groaned out, before rolling away from each other. Their entire bodies were sore. Every time, it seemed like Fugaku knew what they were going to do.

"Great," Naruto groaned. "I need to take a shower."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. After finally mastering the nuances of the famous Uchiha grunt, Sasuke had taken to using it quite often. "I'm beat for today too, tou-san. Is training done?"

"Nope," Fugaku smirked. "Just one more thing, then we'll be done."

Having made leaps and bounds in taijutsu, Fugaku felt that both boys deserved a special surprise. To be honest, Fugaku was proud of the progress that both boys had made. As a team, they could probably hold their own against a chunin. Probably.

Naruto and Sasuke growled under their breath at the prospect of more training. They had come a long way, but they still had a long way to go before they would even come close to Fugaku's level, or Itachi's for that matter. Fugaku smirked at their reaction. Boy would that change soon.

"Alright, as I mentioned, I have a _surprise_ for you two today." Fugaku intentionally stressed the word _surprise_ in order to psyche the boys out.

Standing up with a groan, Naruto was the first to protest. "Hey, tou-san! I need a break! I can't train any more."

Sasuke was vocal in his complaints as well. "Yeah! We're tired. You just beat the living daylights out of us! Can't we just end for the day?"

Fugaku suppressed his smirk. "So I take you two don't want to learn the family taijutsu then?"

"Exactly! We need to -" Naruto abruptly stopped. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"You're going to teach us today?!" Sasuke asked, wide-eyed.

Fugaku now had an evil grin on his face. "Nope."

Naruto flustered a bit before yelling out, "BUT YOU JUST SAID-!"

"I know what I said, but you said that you didn't want to train anymore, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto started. "But this is big! Well, actually, I don't know… I'm kinda tired. I guess we can wait till tomorrow-"

_What?! You dobe! This is our chance!_ Sasuke thought furiously. He had to shut Naruto up! Now!

"Naruto, hey look, I see ramen!" The dark-haired boy yelled.

"What? Where?!" Naruto said, looking all around, the issue at hand completely forgotten.

Sasuke quickly materialized a gag from out of nowhere and jumped Naruto, quite literally, and stuffed the cloth in the blonde's mouth.

"Umph! WANF FWAH HEWF, FWAFKE!" Naruto yelled through the gag, struggling.

"Actually, tou-san, we can start right now!" Sasuke said innocently, while glaring at his best friend. _Don't mess this up, you dobe!_

Naruto would have none of it though. "FWEA HRIEGH! GUEH OFFA MWUE!"

Sasuke just tightened his grip as he grinned at his dad, who was struggling to hold in his laughter. "Come on, let's get started!"

Naruto's muffled obscenities and Sasuke's intentionally oblivious grin finally got to Fugaku.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You should see your faces! HAHAHAHA!"

A confused Sasuke looked at his dad, until Naruto bit through the gag. "He's joking, you teme! I was joking too!"

At this, Sasuke sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Oh… Haha…" came the weak laugh.

Fugaku only laughed harder. It was strange actually. A few years ago, the Uchiha clan head wouldn't have been caught dead with a grin on his face. Naruto's personality was having a greater effect on his family than Fugaku could have ever imagined.

Naruto smirked as he threw Sasuke off of him. _Dang, he's heavy!_ "You're such a teme, teme!"

"Whatever, dobe," Sasuke said, glaring at his blonde friend. "It's not like you could beat me or anything."

"Ha!" Naruto said sarcastically. "Nice comeback, teme! Cause you just got pranked! By your dad too!" Naruto gave a grin. He wouldn't be letting Sasuke live this one down for a while.

"Grrr," Sasuke growled out. "I'll show you, dobe!"

"Bring it on, teme!" Naruto replied. Both boys looked ready for another fight.

"Kiddos. No fighting please." Fugaku intervened.

At the sound of his voice, both boys turned and gave him the evil eye. "Stay out of this!" They yelled at the same time.

"Well, if you really don't want to learn, then ok…" Fugaku said, turning around slowly.

Both boys immediately ran in front of him and bowed deeply. "Wait a sec, tou-san! We're ready to learn! We're ready to learn!" Naruto blurted out quickly.

"Yeah, just a joke!" Sasuke said just as quickly. "We were just joking!"

Fugaku had to suppress the laughter that threatened to come out again. "You two seem awfully wound up, you sure?" He teased again.

Both boys vigorously nodded. Chuckling, Fugaku called Itachi out from behind the tree, where he had seen the entire thing. He too was smiling like a cheshire cat.

Naruto and Sasuke gaped. Their dad had duped them! Itachi too!

"You guys are hilarious!" Itachi said, grinning.

"Hey, hey! I'm the prank master here!" Naruto whined in protest.

"Well you just got pranked!" Itachi replied, his grin never leaving his face.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. He was getting pretty good at that. "Let's just start already."

"Aw, what's the matter, little brother? Upset tou-san got the jump on you? Huh?" Itachi's smirk was getting annoying, Naruto decided right then and there. Sasuke looked away pointedly.

"Yeah yeah," Naruto grumbled out. "Like Sasuke said, let's start."

Chuckling, Fugaku decided to rag them about it later. "Alright. Let me start with some background info. The Uchiha taijutsu is actually based on several styles, each derived from an animal."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, a blank look in his eyes.

"Come on, Naruto!" Sasuke said, a little frustrated. "Tou-san means that our taijutsu style is based on certain animals!"

"Oh," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry." He hated having to make others dumb things down for him.

"That's alright, Naruto," Fugaku said gently. Itachi only looked on interestedly. Naruto wasn't stupid, by far, but he had trouble with academics sometimes.

Fugaku continued. "The animals our style is derived from are the tiger, the crane, and the mantis." Stopping to make sure that the boys were following, Fugaku gestured to Itachi. "Itachi will show you the basic dances for each style."

Itachi walked to the center of the training arena and got into the tiger stance. His movements were all very short, but powerful and fast. Even Naruto and Sasuke could tell that. It was a very aggressive close combat style.

Itachi, finished with the Tiger's Dance, moved seamlessly into the Mantis' Dance.

"Now he's going into the Mantis' Dance," Fugaku explained, seeing Naruto's questioning look at the difference in style.

Itachi's movements now were very graceful. He relied heavily on his legs for versatility of motion and the flexibility of his body for range. Instead of fists, Itachi's fingers were splayed out, held close together, like small blades.

"This style incorporates chakra by channeling it to our hands. It strengthens our attacks as well as making them more devastating. It's actually our less-used style. Tiger and crane, coming up right… now are the most popular."

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes remained glued to Itachi's dance. It was unreal in that Itachi could perform taijutsu like this. He just didn't seem like the dancer type. But that was exactly what he was doing right now. A deadly dance.

Itachi's Crane's Dance was like the Mantis' Dance, except there was much less movement. Itachi's legs were firmly planted with hands in the same form used for the Mantis' Dance. Except now, Itachi's movements were short and fast. It seemed to be a combination of Mantis and Tiger's Dance. There were some flying leaps, but many vicious strikes.

In every single dance, each strike was strong, calm, and assured, but Naruto could easily see that they were flexible styles. Each move could adapt into another attack or defense seamlessly. They were amazing styles.

All these things were recorded instinctually. Naruto was wide-eyed, watching Itachi finish the dances.

Sasuke too was rapt at the demonstration. The Tiger's Dance was definitely for him. "Alright, tou-san! Let's get started! I wanna learn some kicka- Ow!"

Fugaku backhanded Sasuke on the head. "Son, what did I say about language?"

"Sorry," Sasuke mumbled. Then popped back up. "So come on! I wanna learn the Tiger's Dance!"

"Yeah!" Naruto piped up. "The Crane's Dance looked so awesome!"

"Alright boys, alright! Just hold on a sec," Fugaku said, chuckling at the boys' eagerness. "Itachi, could you please get the, er… equipment?" Fugaku said, desperately trying to stop the smirk from appearing on his face.

Itachi had no qualms at all, a devious smirk appearing on his face. "Sure thing, tou-san."

Neither Naruto or Sasuke noticed the subtle undertones going on, they were so excited.

"Alright, boys. I need you to take this pose," Fugaku said, taking the base stance for each of the dances. "With this stance, you can easily flow into any one of the stances." The stance Fugaku showed the boys found the boys' legs bent at right angles, their torsos perpendicular to the ground.

The head is turned to the right. The left arm is almost parallel to the ground, hand in front of the collarbone, palm facing out, and fingers curled in. The right arm is extended out to the right, bent at the elbow just greater than a right angle, hand curled into a loose fist.

Looking over to see how the boys were doing, he walked over and corrected the small angles in their stances. Alright, hold that for a second, and -Oh! There's Itachi! Hold those stances for a sec, boys," Fugaku said, approaching Itachi.

"Alright son, pass me some tea cups," Fugaku said, smirking at the thought of what was to come.

"Sure thing, tou-san," Itachi said, a matching smirk on his face as well.

In a flash, both Uchihas had finished filling fourteen teacups with boiling hot water. Chuckling darkly, they made their way back to the boys, who were looking on confusedly.

"Alright boys, keep the stance for a little longer, then we'll move on. This is part of training, so don't worry." Fugaku said with a silky smooth voice.

One would have been hard pressed to realize the devious intent behind his actions.

Smirking, the elder Uchihas placed the teacups on strategic locations on the boys' bodies. The first cup was placed on the head. One cup on each shoulder and one cup on each knee. In the crook at the elbows, two more steaming teacups were placed.

When all was done, the boys found that they couldn't move at all, lest they spill boiling hot water on themselves.

"What the heck?! Tou-san, nii-san! What're you doing?!" Naruto yelled out, a little panicked at the prospect of being burned by the water.

Sasuke was looking quite the same as well, intensely concentrating on the cups and his stance, not wanting to get burned.

Fugaku smirked evilly. "Well kids, this is how your training works. Itachi and I are going to leave you here like this for a half-hour. You break a cup, we add another 10 minutes."

"What!" Sasuke cried out in alarm, almost spilling the cup on his head.

"You hear right, little bros!" Itachi said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. "This'll help to cement your forms, so you'll never… ever forget your stance. Hehe. See you later, guys!"

"You're leaving us like this?! My legs are burning already! I'm not gonna last!" Naruto cried out, trying to gain some sympathy.

"Well, sorry to say it, Naruto, but this is tradition," Fugaku said in a tone that clearly said he wasn't sorry at all. "I had to do this myself when learning the dances, as did Itachi, so it's only right that you two learn the same way."

Laughing and chuckling with each other, Fugaku and Itachi strolled back inside the house to enjoy some of Mikoto's great home-cooking. It smelled wonderful. She makes some of the best ramen!

"DARN YOU, ITACHI! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! YOU'LL SEE! YOU TOO, TOU-SAN! I'LL BE COMING FOR YOU!" Naruto screamed out at the elder Uchiha's fading backs.

"Calm down, dobe. Your yelling'll probably only spill more water on you," Sasuke said calmly, his mind already racing to exact revenge on his brother and father.

"Shut up, teme! You're the reason we're in this mess right now!" Naruto shot back, wincing as he spilled some hot water on his knee.

"Me?! I'm the reason?!" Sasuke yelled indignantly. "How is it my fault?!"

"You're the one who wanted to this training so badly!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well you wanted it just as bad!" Sasuke yelled back. "Ow!" Some water had spilled on his head. "I'm gonna get 'em back for this. Oh just wait!"

"Yeah, well you and me both, teme." Naruto muttered, focusing on the task at hand.

"After this, dobe, we're gonna take the both of them down," Sasuke said.

"You got it," Naruto said, before looking up with tears practically flowing down his face. "But my legs are burning up so much, and I can't move! Aaaahhhhhh!" Naruto's wails sailed into the house, where Mikoto shook her head and her husband and eldest son's antics. Their training should've been classified as torture, honestly speaking.

But it really was a wonderful way to learn the style. Sighing, she set aside some food for the boys for when they would finish their training. _Better to stay uninvolved, knowing Naruto's pranks and all,_ Mikoto thought wisely.

Outside, Naruto was yelling again. "Teme! Help me out! I'm dying!"

And Sasuke's reply, "Shut up, you dobe! My legs are killing me too!"

And in the distance, Fugaku and Itachi laughing wickedly at their dastardly deed. Oh life was good!


	5. Chapter 5: Academy Days

**Chapter** **5:** Academy Days

It was a bright sunny day in Konoha for most of the people in the village. For students of the academy though, it was either a day of great joy or great suffering. School was starting again. For the two boys walking past Konoha's park, it was clearly an important day.

"Can you believe it, Sasuke! This is our last year!" Naruto yelled excitedly, jumping up and down, creating small dust clouds where he landed. The boys were now 13 and ready to graduate their final year.

_Ugh! I hate it when Naruto gets like this. _Sasuke thought tiredly, trying to ignore the blonde bundle of energy. Most of the time, he was a morning person and Naruto a night owl, but depending on their moods, their roles were sometimes reversed and it was Naruto annoying Sasuke early in the morning. "It's not so special. Besides, we won't have anymore training with nii-san or tou-san anymore," Sasuke muttered out. He didn't really care

"Oh, is that what you're worried about, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, pausing for a bit. "I guess you're right… but then after this we'll be real ninja! Like nii-san and tou-san!" Naruto was getting excited again.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted out.

"Grrr. Why do you have go 'Hn', 'Hn' all the time! It's so annoying, teme!" Naruto yelled in exasperation.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted again. Translation: I don't wanna talk, dobe.

"Yeah, whatever, teme! Ever since you learned how to grunt, it's no fun talking to you anymore. You always go 'Hn' when you don't wanna talk. And that's like all the time!" Naruto whined.

"Hn." Naruto was getting fed up with this.

"There you go again!" Naruto cried out. "If you're gonna keep this up, I'm not gonna talk to you!" Speeding up, Naruto zoomed off, leaving the dark haired boy coughing in a cloud of dust.

_Oh well, he'll get over it soon,_ Sasuke thought with a chuckle. It was fun riling up Naruto like that. If it weren't for that one day, Sasuke would have never known how annoying grunting was to Naruto.

FLASHBACK

"Hey, nii-san! Can you help me and Sasuke out with some shurikenjutsu?" Naruto asked Itachi.

"Maybe later, Naruto. I've got some ANBU stuff to take care of, so, yeah," Itachi said, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What! Come on, nii-san! Just a couple of pointers! Please!" Naruto was practically begging on his knees, doing his best kicked puppy dog imitation. But Itachi was an ANBU captain for a reason.

"Hn." Pointedly ignoring Naruto, Itachi finished strapping on his gear before getting ready to leave.

"Hey! Don't 'Hn' me, nii-san! You promised to train us!" Naruto was practically screaming now.

Itachi sighed. Naruto just wasn't going to leave him alone. "Alright, fine, come here, Naruto," Itachi said, gesturing with his hand.

Naruto eagerly ran forward, only to be poked in the forehead. The blonde haired boy stumbled back on his butt. "What was that! You're gonna poke me and then leave?!"

"Hn," Itachi grunted out, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. You could practically feel his smirk being left behind.

"Arrrggggghhhh!" Naruto yelled out, falling to his knees in frustration. "I hate you nii-san! You and your stupid grunt!"

Little did Naruto know that Sasuke was just in the other room. He had witnessed the entire exchange. Itachi had done the same thing to him so many times, it was funny seeing it happen to someone else for a change.

_Now I see why nii-san likes to poke me so much,_ Sasuke thought with a chuckle. _Not that it gives him the right to poke _me, Sasuke thought with a growl. _Besides, I never knew that Naruto gets so annoyed by the grunt. Hmmm, another reason to master it as soon as possible!_ Sasuke thought, before running out to ask his mother for pointers regarding the Uchiha grunt.

Little known fact, Mikoto was currently the best user of the 'Hn' since the founding of the Uchiha clan. It was said that she had 1,000 variations of the 'Hn' as well as 100 sub-tones for each variation. It was nothing short of amazing.

After all, being the Uchiha matriarch, it is quite important to be able to silence lesser men with a simple 'Hn'. Who better to go to for advice. Little did Sasuke know what exactly training in the ways of 'Hn' would entail.

FLASHBACK END

Sasuke shuddered at the memory. He spent countless sleepless nights remembering his mother's rage when he messed up the aggravated sub-tone with the slightly annoyed sub-tone for variation 678 regarding the 'Hn' for: I want you to shut up.

_Who knew that kaa-san was so deadly with the newspaper?!_ Sasuke thought with a slight shudder. _At least I can now annoy Naruto all the time!_ An evil gleam passed through Sasuke's eyes.

Meanwhile, with Naruto, things were a little different. He had just rounded a corner when a huge blur nearly tackled him from behind. Naruto quickly jumped out of the way.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Naruto yelled at Inuzuka Kiba, who had nearly run over the blonde. The clan heir was wearing his customary gray hoodie with his nin dog Akamaru riding on his head.

"Yeah, yeah, runt!" Kiba said dismissively, stopping for a moment to turn around. "You should make way for your betters!" Kiba replied with a smirk.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"What'd you say, dog-breath?! Just wait till I hit my growth spurt! And I could so beat you at anything, anywhere!" Naruto retorted.

Kiba twitched. "What'd you call me, you dead-last! I could beat you with my hands tied behind my back, with a concrete block on my leg, and my eyes closed to boot!" Kiba challenged arrogantly.

"Whatever dog-breath! I could definitely take you down in a straitjacket, sinking in the ocean, while unconscious!" Naruto retorted. "Ha! Beat that!"

"What? That doesn't even make sense, you dobe!" Kiba replied, irritated with Naruto's completely random comeback.

"Hey! No one calls me dobe and gets away with it! Except for teme, I guess. Only sometimes, though!" Naruto said contemplatively.

Now Kiba was just getting really annoyed.

"Oh yeah?! If you think you're so good, then I challenge you to a race. From here to the Academy!" Kiba threw out angrily. "Arf!" Akamaru barked out.

"Ha! That's so boring," Naruto replied nonchalantly. Kiba had no idea what he was getting into. "Let's make the race even longer. From here to Ichiraku's, then to the Academy!"

"You think you're a real tough guy, huh? Well I'll show you! You're on! Winner gets free lunch wherever he wants."

"Heh! Looks like you're gonna be getting me lunch soon, Kiba!" Naruto scoffed out. He wasn't wearing his weights today, so this would be a cinch.

"Don't trash talk when you can't back it up, Naruto!" Kiba retorted with an equally arrogant smirk on his face. There was no way anyone could beat him in speed.

"Alrighty then. Ready… set… GO!" Naruto yelled, as he and Kiba raced away, kicking up a dust cloud in a couple of civilians' faces. Coughing, the early risers cursed their bad luck as well as the two speed demons who had just raced by.

Neck and neck, both boys were surprised to find that they were relatively equal in speed. Both boys were sure that they would've had an advantage from their respective training regimens. It was then that Kiba decided he would change things up a bit. Putting on a short burst of speed, Kiba raced ahead, knocking over a couple of boxes leaning up against a nearby wall… right into Naruto's path.

"Hey, you cheater!" Naruto yelled, before he had to stop because of the boxes. He wasn't expecting the move, so couldn't react in time when he saw the boxes landing in his path.

"Ha! We never said anything about cheating, loser!" Kiba yelled, before disappearing around a corner.

Naruto growled, before realizing that the boxes provided a great pathway onto the roofs of the surrounding buildings.

Smirking, Naruto clambered up onto the roof. _Ha! This is actually a shortcut, since I can just cut straight through. No turns!_

Planning his path across the rooftops of Konoha, Naruto could see in the distance the telltale smokestack above Ichiraku's little vendor. _This'll be a piece of cake!_

Taking off from his starting position, Naruto hopped a few rooftops until he made it to the corner of two of the main road where the gap was just too large to jump. Naruto knew what he would have to do. He had done this a hundred times already. Running adjacent to one of the streets, Naruto was about ten feet away from intersecting street before he acted. Barely pausing, Naruto launched himself off of the building straight over a twenty foot drop. Reaching out quickly, Naruto grabbed onto one of the street signs jutting out on his corner of the street. Swinging around the pole once, Naruto let go at just the right moment, using his momentum to shoot up to the buildings on the other side of the street.

Landing lightly on his hands and feet, Naruto was off again. He had a race to win! Jumping across another few rooftops, Naruto landed on a lower rooftop, and from there easily skidded to a stop on Ichiraku's ramen bar just in time to see Kiba race around the corner

"Wha-? You beat me here?! On the rooftops?!" Kiba asked, surprised that Naruto had turned the fallen boxes to his own advantage.

"Yeah! Take that, dog-breath!" Naruto said, standing triumphant on top of the restaurant.

That is, until Kiba raced away, laughing. "Well you still gotta beat me to the Academy, Naruto!"

"Darn!" Naruto muttered, before climbing back up onto the rooftops. If they helped him beat Kiba once, maybe they'd help a second time.

"Hey, Naruto! Is that you? Get off of my restaurant!" Teuchi Ichiraku yelled out, having rushed out to see what the commotion was.

"Sorry, old man!" Naruto cried out, his voice already fading in the distance. "But I'll be back for some lunch real soon to make up for this!"

Teuchi chuckled at the boy's antics. The kid was lovable in an annoyingly endearing kind of way. When he wasn't being too annoying.

Racing across the rooftops, Naruto used his little swinging trick to cross a couple more streets before he could see the Academy in the distance. Jumping over an air duct, Naruto flew forward, grabbing onto a overhead water pipe, using his momentum to swing over a larger gap between two buildings. Naruto hit the ground, rolling into a run. He could see Kiba in the distance. He was racing around the fence to get through the gate.

_Kiba'll have to go through the gate, but I can jump over the fence!_ Naruto thought with glee. Coiling his legs as he approached the edge of the roof, Naruto launched himself forward, over the gates surrounding Konoha Academy and grabbed onto the limb of a nearby tree. Swinging safely down onto the ground, he dashed into the building, running straight into his classroom, way ahead of Kiba.

He was early! Cool! Only that one girl was there. _What was her name again? Oh yeah, Hyuuga Hanita, or something like that, _Naruto thought in his head. _Oh well, doesn't matter_.

Hiding right next to the door, he waited for Kiba to come dashing in. _But I'll probably hear him before I see him._ Naruto thought with a chuckle.

And sure enough, Kiba's angry foot-pounding echoed through the halls. "Naruto! Where are you?! I'm gonna get you for this, you cheater!"

"Arf!" Akamaru tried to warn his human that it was a trap, but Kiba was just to angry to listen to reason. Sighing, Akamaru quickly jumped off, not wanting to get entangled in his human's impending fall.

Kiba raced through the door, angry that Naruto had beat him. It was time for some payback! Until he tripped right over Naruto's outstretched foot!

"Gah!" Kiba yelled out, before falling forward, rolling several feet before crashing into a soft object.

Looking up, Kiba blushed, realizing exactly who it was he had fallen on. He jumped up and scrambled away like Hinata was on fire. "Uh- um- ah- er- I- I'm s-so-sorry, Hinata-chan! I didn't see y-you there!"

Hinata's face was just as red as she looked away from Kiba. "It's a-alright, Kiba-kun! It was n-nice." Her face grew even redder as she realized what she said. "I mean! I'm n-not hurt or a-anything!"

Blushing furiously, neither was able to look each other in the eye. It was too much for Naruto. "Hahahaha! Kiba! That was hilarious! You shoulda seen your face when you realized you landed on Hinata! Hahahaha! Man! You're a riot!"

Kiba only blushed even harder, before punching Naruto away. "Shut up, you idiot! You're the one who put me in this mess!" He growled out, before turning back to Hinata in a hurry. "Not that it was bad t-to er… fall on you, Hinata-chan…" Kiba trailed off embarrassedly, blushing at Hinata's stare and Naruto's renewed laughter. "Um… I mean… never mind!" He said hurriedly before turning away.

Hinata too seemed flustered, but she quickly grabbed Kiba's arm and said, "Kiba-kun, it's alright! I-I forgive you!" She stammered out, before turning around and sitting down on her seat, red as a tomato.

Kiba could only stare in a daze, until he was broken out of his stupor by Naruto's laughter.

"Hahahahaha! You've got a crush on Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed loudly with a grin that would have made a cheshire cat green with envy.

"What!" Kiba almost shouted, his blush and stutter returning full force. "What makes you say that, N-Naruto?!" Kiba sounded almost worried.

"Probably your blush and stutter." a new voice said from outside the door.

Kiba and Naruto turned to the newcomer. "Sasuke! You should've seen it! I tripped Kiba, and he landed on Hinata, and they practically kissed!" Naruto gesticulated wildly with his hands in his excitement.

"We did not!" Kiba retorted hotly. "Stop making things up! I just landed on top of her!"

"Yeah? Well you wanted to kiss her!" Naruto teased. Smirking like a maniac.

"Uh- Naruto, you idiot! Stop talking about stuff like this!" Kiba growled out. He didn't want to really admit that he really wanted to kiss Hinata. _She's so kind and cute…_ Kiba's thoughts started to wander, and Naruto picked up on the dreamy expression on his face.

Smirking, Naruto winked at Sasuke, who raised his eyebrows. "Oh man!" the blonde said loudly, "I hope Iruka-sensei doesn't catch you groping Hinata!"

Kiba's eyes went as wide as saucers, and Hinata, who had her back to the boys but was still listening, suddenly went stiff and passed out at the thought. Her head hitting the desk with a _thunk_. After all of Naruto's teasing, this was the last straw.

Kiba raced over to Hinata, hoping that she would be alright. "Look what you did, Naruto!" He hissed.

But the grand finale was just beginning. At that very second, Iruka burst through the doorway, wild-eyed and steaming. "Who's groping who?!" He cried out. "This is a G-rated environment! And I will not have acts of perversion in _my_ classroom!"

Then his eyes fell on Kiba, who was cradling Hinata's head in his hands. "Kiba! It's you, huh?!" Kiba suddenly had a deer in headlights look, as he realized just what Naruto had done to him. _Curse you, Naruto!_

Walking over to the boy who was backing away in trepidation, Iruka made sure to be especially intimidating.

"Uh, wait sensei! I wasn't groping anybody! Naruto made that up!" Kiba protested, until he was finally backed into a corner.

Iruka grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and dragged a kicking Kiba away. "It's detention and a talk with the headmaster for you, Kiba!" Iruka said pointedly, glad that he had nipped such perverted behavior in the bud.

Kiba glared at Naruto the entire way. "I'll get you, Naruto! Don't you forget it! I'll get you!"

"Arf!" Akamaru barked, following his foolish human. _I told you so_, he said to Kiba. _You never listen to me!_

"Yeah, yeah," Kiba grumbled, his voice fading in the distance.

Naruto made eye contact with Sasuke, and both boys broke down laughing.

"Hahaha! That was great! Hahahaha! Did you see his face?!" Naruto was gasping as he tried to stand.

"I know! Hahaha! You really got him! Hahahaha!" Sasuke didn't even try to stand, as he caught his breath.

They both sat on the tables, trying to stop the laughter from coming out. Then they looked at each other again and broke out laughing again. This continued for another minute until some more students filed into the classroom.

As if another person had inhabited his body, Sasuke stopped laughing immediately, putting on his usual mask. When he was at school, he was a cool, aloof, arrogant Uchiha. And laughter was well beneath him. It was Sasuke's defense mechanism against the stares and prejudice.

Naruto, who had seen this, just laughed even harder, but putting on his own mask just the same. It wasn't always this way, but when they turned 10, it became a way to cope with being ignored by practically everyone in the village. The only friends they had, if you can describe them as friends, were some of the students in the Academy. But even then, true friendship was strained.

As more students filed in, Iruka still had not returned, so the students started talking amongst themselves. Naruto and Sasuke found seats apart from each other. It was a game they had to try to make it seem like they were arch rivals or something. Most of the time, it would lead to some really hilarious situations. Like that one time when they had gotten everybody to take bets over a spar. It turned out that they made a whole bunch of money since they tied the spar, and they were the only ones to bet on a tie.

There was also the interrupt Iruka every five minutes incident… with paint bombs! But that's another story for another time.

But even at different ends of the room, Sasuke and Naruto could communicate just by their facial expressions and some hand signals. Itachi had taught them some of the sign language that the ANBU corps used, and the boys had expanded on that to create their own subtle signaling language. Combined with their facial expressions, it was remarkably diverse. Not to mention that the boys knew each other very well, so even the subtlest gesture could carry gigabytes of information.

Right now, they were having a silent laugh over the fangirls in the corner. They didn't even know how Sasuke developed a fangirl club. The boys weren't stupid. They knew that most people in the village didn't like them and went out of their way to make their lives difficult. _I guess it's true that nothing can stop fangirls,_ Naruto thought with a grim chuckle.

Sure fangirls were funny from a distance, but when they passed a certain space boundary, there was nothing funny about the possible danger involved. That was exactly what they were thinking when two of the biggest Sasuke fangirls began to approach Sasuke.

Pinkie and Blondie. Otherwise known as Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. This wasn't good. Sasuke signaled an SOS to Naruto. This was one situation where Naruto knew better than to let Sasuke sit tight and have a laugh. First of all, he wouldn't want Sasuke to do the same to him, and second of all, after having experienced all of Itachi's fangirl-related genjutsu, fangirl-crises were top priority.

Seeing Sasuke's close-to-panic face, Naruto immediately took action. "Oi! Teme! You lookin' at me weird?!" Naruto yelled loudly. Everybody stopped talking to stare at the blonde. _Here we go again_, were the thoughts of most students in the classroom. None of them even paused to wonder why Naruto's and Sasuke's confrontations were so conveniently timed. No one except a certain pineapple-haired boy who was pretending to sleep in the corner.

With everyone's attention on Naruto, Sasuke smirked. _So, that's how he wants to play this one out._ Back in familiar territory, Sasuke was confident again.

"Define weird, dobe. Cause if it's your kind of weird, then no one can get that weird." Sasuke said smugly.

_Ooh, that was good._ Naruto thought with a mental smirk. "Heh! Just cause it's the first day doesn't mean that I'm not ready to go, teme!" Underneath the desk, Naruto prepared one of his special "paint-splosion" tags.

Sasuke, who conveniently stood up and positioned himself between Naruto and the fangirls, who were looking on like hawks. "The only place you'd go, dobe, is… is…"

_Uh-oh,_ Naruto thought. _Sasuke didn't plan this out_. _Quick!_ "Ha! You can't even trash talk right!" Quickly wrapping the tag around the only thing available, a pencil, Naruto stood up and whipped the object at Sasuke… who had prepared himself for that moment. Jumping forward, Sasuke rolled under the deadly pencil and took cover under the desk. Just in time.

With a bang, the pencil exploded in a splash of neon pink, green, and yellow just as the door opened and Iruka walked in. Everybody in the class gasped and went silent, taking in the sight. Naruto inwardly groaned and banged his head on the wall. He only wanted a fraction of the exploding power. Not enough to take out a wall!

Iruka and Sasuke's fangirl club were covered with paint. Not only that, but splashed all over the wall was the phrase, 'Naruto rules!'

Naruto groaned again. He should've prepped that bomb a little better. First of all, he didn't want everybody to know that he did it. He probably could've bluffed out of it if his name weren't plastered all over the wall. Now, he would have to stay after to clean the wall! But then again… seeing the faces on Ino and Sakura as they got splashed by the paint was priceless!

"NARUTO!" Iruka suddenly yelled out, using his Demon Head Jutsu.

_Then again…_ Naruto thought. _This is gonna be a long day. You owe me, Sasuke!_ Naruto glared at his best friend.

IIIIII

Itachi sighed. Talking with Iruka about Naruto's pranks while his parents were on missions was not how he had envisioned his day. After the ridiculously boring meeting with Iruka, Itachi had vowed to make Naruto pay. The ANBU turned babysitter for the day headed for Ichiraku's, where he knew Naruto and Sasuke would be, goofing off instead of doing their school work as usual.

Already, a block away, he could hear their laughter as they joked about their day. _So Naruto splashed a whole wall with paint and graffiti. His paint bombs are getting bigger and badder._ Not good.

Itachi, having arrived at the ramen bar, pushed aside the entrance flaps and walked in. Immediately, he saw Naruto and Sasuke laughing over several bowls of ramen. _Great_.

"Alright, kiddos," Itachi began, before he saw the smirk pass over Naruto and Sasuke's faces. In a puff of smoke, both boys were replaced by logs and Itachi was left alone in the ramen bar. _Oh no, not again!_ Glancing up at the counter, he saw the owner, Teuchi Ichiraku with his hand extended.

"Ah Itachi-kun! The boys mentioned that you would pay!" Teuchi said with a smile that Itachi thought was clearly evil.

This was the third time Naruto and Sasuke had tried to pull something like this, and Itachi had come prepared.

"Er, just a sec, Teuchi-san," Itachi replied, scratching the back of his head, smiling.

A few moments later, a shadow clone of Itachi walked in, dragging behind it Naruto and Sasuke, who were loudly protesting and trying to break free.

"These guys'll pay," Itachi said with a smirk.

Teuchi smiled too, having known Naruto and Sasuke's ploy for getting free ramen. It was good to show the boys who's who every once in a while.

After Itachi's shadow clone dispersed, Naruto and Sasuke got up and dusted themselves off.

"Hehe," Naruto nervously chuckled. "Guess you caught us, nii-san."

Itachi smirked at them. "What am I gonna do with you guys?"

"Well, you could join us for a bowl of ramen, nii-san," Sasuke asked, trying a different tackle.

Naruto quickly voiced his opinion. "Yeah, come on nii-san. You look hungry."

Teuchi, never wanting to pass up a customer, said, "That's a great idea, boys. Itachi-kun, why don't you join us?"

Itachi looked back and forth between Teuchi and the boys. Finally, he decided to give in. He was a little hungry. "Alright-"

"Yata!" Naruto yelled. "One miso ramen, old man!"

"I'll take a pork ramen, Teuchi-san!" Sasuke said, right behind Naruto.

"And you, Itachi-kun?" Teuchi asked.

"I'll take a miso ramen, please." Itachi said, slightly mystified as to how Naruto and Sasuke always got him off track.

"Two misos, one pork coming right up!" Teuchi said, before heading to the back to start cooking.

While cooking, he heard the back door to the restaurant open. "Ayame! You're back! Great! I'm just finishing up an order for Naruto and Sasuke. Can you take it out?"

"Sure thing, tou-san!" Ayame called as she hustled the bags of groceries she was carrying into the restaurant. Setting them down and whipping on her apron expertly, she picked up all three bowls with a practiced ease and headed out to the front. "Food's ready, boys!" She called brightly. Service with a smile!

"Alright! Thanks Ayame-nee-san!" Naruto cried out excitedly. Already digging in to his ramen.

"Thanks, Ayame!" Sasuke said, equally eager to get into his bowl of ramen. Although nobody could even begin to approach Naruto's level of… appreciation for ramen, Sasuke had a high level of fondness for the meal.

"Thank you…" Itachi began. Then he looked up at the waitress serving him. They made eye contact, and Itachi froze. He completely forgot about Sasuke and Naruto's prank as he looked into the eyes of the pretty waitress. "Ayame-san…" Itachi trailed off, his mind elsewhere.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged smirks as they saw exactly what was occupying Itachi's attention. Ayame, though, seemed oblivious to the effect she was having on Itachi.

"Anytime!" She said perkily. Turning around, she strolled to the back to put away the groceries.

"Heehee. So, Itachi nii-san. How's the ramen?" Naruto asked offhandedly.

"The ramen… Oh… it's good." Itachi replied. He hadn't even taken a bite of the ramen.

"Yeah," Sasuke began. "Ayame-nee's pretty cute, eh nii-san?"

"Yeah, beautiful…" Itachi replied, not even realizing what he was saying.

Naruto and Sasuke snickered as they thought about how easy their next prank would be. _Eighteen year-olds_, Naruto thought, rolling his eyes. Quickly finishing their ramen, they called for the check.

Ayame came back out with her pad. "Alright boys, that'll be 50 ryo, please."

"Sure thing," Naruto said, before pausing. "Oh, by the way, nee-san, this is our nii-san, Itachi." Naruto said, gesturing at the older Uchiha.

Ayame for the first time got a good look at the older Uchiha. She had to admit that he was very good looking. "Why hello, Itachi-san. It's nice to meet you" She said, bowing her head.

"Wha… I mean, it's nice to meet you too!" Itachi almost shouted as he snapped out of his daze.

Ayame giggled a bit, and Itachi blushed.

Sasuke smirked. This was too easy. "Yeah! Itachi's a ninja! We're gonna be as good as him someday!"

"Oh, you're a ninja?" Ayame asked interestedly. She hadn't seen any ninja gear or a hitai-ite on Itachi's person.

"Uh, yeah. It's my off day today." Itachi replied, feeling a little nervous at being outside of his comfort zone. He wasn't a real big talker when it came to females.

"Yup!" Naruto began excitedly. "He's in ANBU, so he's like undercover when he's off! He's a captain, you know!"

"Really?!" Ayame asked in surprise. The person in front of her looked quite young for being an ANBU captain.

"Yeah, well… you know…" Itachi said, embarrassed at Ayame's attention.

"Wow! So you must really appreciate your off days with your brothers," Ayame said, gesturing to Naruto and Sasuke, who still hadn't paid their bill.

"Yeah, I do. I don't get days like this a lot. But it's not always great. I mean, the last time I took the guys out for some ice cream, I had to deal with the consequences of one of Naruto and Sasuke's pranks."

"Oh no! What did they do?" Ayame asked. Her attention on her handsome customer.

"They took a couple of those big gallon buckets of ice cream and gave it to the owner's five year old kid she was babysitting. Let me tell you! That kid was hyper on five gallons of sugar!" Ayame giggled lightly, her hand covering her mouth.

This simple act seemed to embolden Itachi a bit. "And after that, Naruto and Sasuke ran off and left me with the tab! I had to watch the kid _and_ clean up the store _and_ pay for the ice cream! I can't believe they did that!"

Ayame openly laughed at that, before gesturing at the empty seats beside Itachi. "Like what they just did now?" She said with a giggle.

"Yeah! Wait… what?" Glancing around quickly, Itachi realized that he had been so absorbed in his conversation with Ayame that he didn't notice that his little brothers had taken off on him!

Itachi groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Ugh! Great! Sorry about that, Ayame-chan. How much is the tab?"

Ayame smiled at the boys' prank and Itachi's reaction. "50 ryo, Itachi-kun."

Itachi pulled out the bills and laid them on the counter. "I can't believe they did that again," Itachi said ruefully. "And that I didn't catch them."

Ayame laughed. "Well, they're sneaky ones, those two. Sometimes, when they're here with your father, mother, or even the Hokage, they're able to swindle free bowls."

"Really?" Itachi asked, smiling. "How? What happened?"

"Well…" Ayame began, returning Itachi's smile.

As Naruto and Sasuke listened to the sounds of Ayame and Itachi's laughter, they grinned and shared a conspiratorial fist bump in congratulations. Itachi would be paying for more ramen in the near future, it would seem.


	6. Chapter 6: Secrets

**A/N:** I'm keeping the characters slightly OOC for the time being. But not for long. Also, trying to shape Sasuke's character after Kishimoto completely trashed him in the manga is going to be… interesting. I never really liked him in the manga or anime, but after reading all of these fics bashing him in, I felt sorry for the poor bastard and decided to try something different. Remake him into someone people can like.

**Chapter** **6:** Secrets

"Finally!" A loud voice pierced the night air. "Midterms are over! I hate 'em so much!"

"Well, if you studied, they wouldn't be so bad," another voice replied, this one much quieter. "I thought they were pretty easy."

"Whatever, teme! I just have a hard time with the book stuff. If it weren't for that, I definitely would've made second in the class cause we're definitely better than everybody else, huh?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted shortly. He wasn't in the mood to talk. He had a bad feeling about the day for some reason.

Naruto glanced at his friend. He wondered why Sasuke seemed so down today. Lately, the two had been spending less time with Fugaku and Itachi. Their older brother had become more distant and preoccupied lately. They wondered maybe if it had something to do with Shisui, who had lost his parents and sister last year.

Their father too had been busy with clan politics. Sometimes, they trained with their mother, but lately, they had been left to train by themselves, and more often than not, the two trained for maybe an hour and then called it quits.

Lately, Naruto had done some serious thinking about the secrets around the villagers' hate for him. Both he and Sasuke had figured out that the villagers were mistrustful of the Uchiha because it was supposedly an Uchiha who had released the Kyuubi on the village more than a decade ago. A single man's actions had destroyed the village's trust in a whole clan.

When Sasuke learned about this, he scoffed and said, "People who hate me because of this thing are idiots. They don't deserve my recognition, much less my attention."

Naruto agreed, but at the same time, couldn't help but think that there was something more. Every time he seemed to get close to the answer, it seemed like someone was purposefully preventing him from finding those answers.

Both boys also found out that Naruto's birthday coincided with the Kyuubi festival, the day celebrating the Fourth Hokage's victory over the fox. Sasuke was born only a week was all somewhat suspicious.

Neither had yet made the connection, and Naruto was still just as confused as to the reason people called him a monster and a demon.

It didn't happen a lot, but sometimes, a villager who was just too ignorant and prejudiced for his own good would lash out at Sasuke and Naruto. In fact one particular shop owner had said that Sasuke and all the rest of the Uchiha must have been traitors because they were harboring a demon.

Naruto and Sasuke hadn't even react. They only continued to walk on, putting on their customary masks. It had happened several times in the past, but Naruto and Sasuke refused to let it get to them anymore. Itachi had taught them well to never show weakness. Naruto thought about this and the silent rift the secrets had created between him and his family. Naruto had to admit that he felt like he belonged with the Uchihas, but sometimes, he felt resentful that they would keep secrets from him.

Naruto knew that Mikoto, Fugaku, and Itachi loved him and wanted only to protect him and Sasuke, but at times, he felt alienated from them. At those times, he felt a strong connection to Sasuke, and couldn't help but feel like they were more similar than anybody could have ever imagined. But when those moments passed, he would lapse back again into calling Sasuke, teme and trying to prank Itachi again. It had become harder and harder as time went on to catch Itachi in his pranks.

The boys continued on in silence. They had spent the day walking around Konoha, hanging out with friends from the Academy, celebrating the end of midterms. They were on the way home to grab some stuff they left behind for a sleepover at the Inuzuka's house.

There would be the customary Uchiha fangirls there, Sakura and Ino, who were usually a great source of amusement for Naruto and Sasuke as long as they didn't have their posse of fangirls backing them up. There would also be the customary ragging of Naruto as the dead-last. Naruto knew that his academic work had probably merited the nickname, but still. _Can't they just for once look past my academics?_ Naruto thought. _I can be a great ninja even without my academics!_

Both boys liked hanging out with their friends, but it always seemed like there was a barrier between the boys and the other students at the Academy. There was a certain stereotype that the boys had filled in their friends' eyes, and they felt as if they were trapped by their friends' expectations. They felt like they couldn't really be themselves.

Rounding the corner, the boys caught the familiar sight of the gates to the Uchiha compound but saw something quite unfamiliar. The gates were open, creaking in the wind.

The gates were never ajar. They were always closed or open with a guard posted. The boys looked at each other with a look that said it all. _What's going on?!_

Forgetting all of their lessons with Itachi and Fugaku, both boys threw caution to the wind and dashed into the compound, hoping that everything was alright. That everything would be normal.

Running through the gates, the boys stopped dead in their tracks. Everything was not normal. Everything was not alright. The sight that greeted them was straight out of a horror movie. There were bodies lying crumpled on the dusty road, the moonlight casting an evil glow on the scene. Tonight, the night was an enemy. Blood was splashed all over the street and the walls of the houses. There was not a sound except for the whistling of the wind through the streets

Both boys were rooted to their spot as they took in the scene around them. Falling to his knees, Sasuke buried his head in his hands. "They're… They're… Dead," He muttered crazily. "I knew something was wrong with today." He kept repeating the phrase over and over.

Meanwhile, Naruto, looking around at the bodies lying in pools of blood, fell against a nearby wall. He couldn't even begin to believe or comprehend the sight before him. "Is that Auntie Uruchi? That looks like Daisuke…" Naruto continued identifying bodies, his voice hushed as if he didn't want to disturb the lurid calm of the scene.

"Shut up, Naruto! Shut up! I don't want to know who's dead!" Sasuke suddenly yelled. "They're dead, and they're not coming back! And we're next if we don't get out of here!"

_Sasuke's right. We have to pull ourselves together._ Naruto knew what he had to do, but he was in too much shock to actually do anything about it. His mind was too numb to register the words and the danger.

The sight of people you knew, people you loved, lying dead in pools of red was not something anybody, much less two 13 year olds should ever be exposed to.

But as Itachi and Fugaku's words and training echoed through Sasuke's mind, the young Uchiha snapped out of his shock, his survival instincts kicking in. He wasn't called an Uchiha prodigy for nothing. "Naruto! Come… on… We have to… " Sasuke trailed off as he caught sight of movement ahead. He caught sight of his brother rounding the corner.

"Nii-san? Nii-san!" Sasuke cried out. Not even glancing back at Naruto, he ran forward, desperately trying to stop his brother. "Nii-san! Wait!" He forgot all about Naruto as he chased the glimpses of his brother around corners and through alleyways.

Rounding the corner of a familiar street, Sasuke saw his brother stride through the open doors of their house. Ignoring the foreboding sense of danger, pushed by a sick sense of curiosity, Sasuke forced his legs to climb the stairs into his family home.

"Nii-san!" Suddenly, the words caught in his throat, as he witnessed the scene before him. "W-w-what's go-going on?!" Sasuke's weakly croaked out.

"Greetings, little brother," came a voice so cold, Sasuke could barely recognize it as his brother's.

"What? N-nii-san! W-What a-a-are you doing?!" Sasuke stuttered out, as he saw his older brother standing over his kneeling parents.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Itachi asked as he raised his kodachi. Sasuke could only stare in horror and sick fascination as his brother swung his arm outward with a vicious stroke.

Then suddenly, he swung into action. "No!" Sasuke ran forward in a futile attempt to stop his brother from killing his parents. "You're not my brother! My brother would never do this!"

But with each step Sasuke took, Itachi seemed to get farther and farther away. He saw again and again his brother striking his defenseless parents. Again, again, again, and again.

Defeated, Sasuke fell to his knees, his thirteen year old mind broken.

As he looked on the scene for what seemed to be the hundredth time, he felt an invisible hand touch his shoulder, and with a small injection of chakra into his system, the scene before him shattered like a mirror.

But Sasuke was too shocked to even recognize this. He didn't even feel himself being dragged into another room.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" The voice seemed very far away. Sasuke could vaguely see a shape obstruct his vision through his tears, but he was like a rag doll.

Then suddenly, Sasuke felt a stinging sensation on his face. Once. Twice. Clearing his head, Sasuke opened his eyes, staring straight into the eyes of his father.

Eyes wide, Sasuke nearly cried out, "Tou-san!" before Fugaku clamped his hand over his son's mouth.

"Sshh!" He whispered, Slowly taking his hand off of Sasuke's mouth.

"But Tou-san!" Sasuke whispered back quietly, "I saw you! Nii-san! He killed you and kaa-san!"

Fugaku's eyes hardened as he realized exactly what the genjutsu had showed to Sasuke. "It was a genjutsu, son."

"A genjutsu?"

"Yes, and for someone to cast such an extensive one over you must mean he's close by." Fugaku was more than slightly worried. The assassin or assassins were skilled. He knew that much. Turning away from Sasuke, Fugaku conducted a quick scan of the surrounding area.

Sasuke could think about only one thing, though. "So kaa-san, nii-san? Are they alright?!"

Fugaku froze in his position. If Sasuke could have seen his father's face, he would have seen a shadow pass over his father's eyes. He would have seen the murderous hate behind his father's eyes. He would have seen the pain that his father felt at knowing that his wife was dead.

_I now know how you felt, Minato_, Fugaku thought bitterly. _But although I have nothing left, I still have my sons. You had to sacrifice your son. Could I do the same?_ Fugaku thought.

"Your mother's dead, son." He was not one to mince his words. Even now.

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. "No! Tou-san! Please! No!"

"I'm sorry, son." He said solemnly.

"What about nii-san?" Sasuke asked, dreading the answer.

"There's no time to explain, son!" Fugaku whispered hurriedly. "Where's Naruto?!"

"Naruto?!" Sasuke asked, overwhelmed by the pace of events. "What?"

"Naruto! You know, blonde hair. Loud. Ramen-addict." Fugaku said with a dark sense of humor. He felt sorry for his son. The first time a ninja saw death should have been on the battlefield. Not a massacre like this. "Where is he, son?"

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried, his mind clearing for a brief moment. "Oh no! Tou-san! I left him behind by the gates."

Fugaku's eyes went wide. Naruto was defenseless out there. "What?! Sasuke! We have to get him! Now!"

Dragging Sasuke up to his feet, Fugaku slowly opened the door to the closet they were hiding in.

Peeking out through the crack, Fugaku whispered back. "Coast is clear. Let's go, son." He wasn't quite sure how many assassins were out there or how skilled. He only knew of the one that had attacked him and his wife. Fugaku closed his eyes trying to shut out the fresh memory. But try as he might, the images kept playing through his mind.

He saw himself and his wife lying next to each other, sleeping. He leaned over to kiss his wife goodnight, and lay back on his side of the bed. He looked up at the dark ceiling, and he closed his eyes.

Moments later, Fugaku remembered the distinct feeling of despair overwhelm him and snapping his eyes open. Years of experience on the battlefield of war had honed his instincts to a fine point. Not even the years of 'retired' life as clan head had dulled those instincts. It was those instincts which moved his body of its own volition. It was those instincts that saved his life.

A kunai that was meant for his heart ripped a hole through his left arm. Yelling in pain, Fugaku leapt up and aimed a kick at the assailant, whom he sensed was next to his bedside. Rolling over his wife's body, he tried to shake her awake.

"Mikoto! Mikoto! He had nearly screamed out in hysteria, only to realize that she was dead. She had a smile on her face, her blood pooled around her body. It was a quick, silent, and painless death. At least this assassin had some honor.

Fugaku could usually control his emotions, but this was beyond any man's limits. Rage and grief poured forth from Fugaku's broken heart. "Bastard! I'll kill you for this!" Ripping the kunai out of his arm, he jumped across the bed toward the silent assassin, locking the two in a silent dance of death. Fugaku used his Sharingan to predict his enemy's movements, but he was surprised to find that his enemy was also predicting his movements with accuracy only the Sharingan or Byakugan granted.

Testing his theory out, Fugaku lashed out at his enemy, predicting the counterattack. But this time, instead of blocking the move, he took the blow straight on, using his left arm to lock the masked assassin in place. With a quick punch, Fugaku knocked the assailant's mask off and he stared into a single open eye. A single, fully developed Sharingan. A malicious eye filled with loathing and the vilest kind of evil.

Shuddering, Fugaku recovered from his shock and gathered chakra to his right fist. In a split second, he had shattered the assassin's throat, effectively killing the man, but not before the assassin had time to break the tendons in Fugaku's left arm. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Fugaku only growled as the assassin burst into a cloud of smoke.

_A shadow clone! _Fugaku thought furiously. _And an Uchiha as well! But I've never seen him before. Could this be the Uchiha Madara that Sandaime-sama mentioned so long ago?_ Fugaku dreaded to think that this could be the case before keeling over and coughing up blood. He looked at the wound in his chest. He would not survive this without medical attention soon. Wrapping it as best he could with the bedsheets, Fugaku knew that he had to warn the Hokage. A signal. But he couldn't perform jutsu. He couldn't move his left arm at all.

But before Fugaku opened his bedroom door, Fugaku looked toward his wife's body. He couldn't help himself. Stumbling over and crying over Mikoto, Fugaku remained that way until he felt all of the warmth leave his wife's body. Saying a silent prayer over his wife, he was glad at least that her death had been painless.

Steeling himself, Fugaku walked over to the door to his bedroom. Cracking it open, he was surprised to his son standing in the middle of the room.

"Sasuke!" He had said in a breathless whisper. He had given Naruto and Sasuke permission to train late and to sleepover with the Inuzuka's that night. He had forgotten about Sasuke and Naruto in the heat of the battle, but seeing his son standing before him, a world of worry opened up.

It wasn't until his son collapsed that Fugaku knew that he had to save his son. Cautiously rushing out, Fugaku injected some of his chakra into Sasuke, breaking the genjutsu, but still, his son wouldn't move. He was in shock. Grabbing his son, Fugaku had dragged him back into a nearby closet. Fugaku remembered all of this in vivid detail. With a noticeable effort, Fugaku gave a grunt as he forced his memories into the deepest, darkest part of his mind.

_Now is not the time for grief, for pain…_ Fugaku thought morosely. Supressing his memories, the elder Uchiha compartmentalized all of the wild emotions he felt at the moment.

Moving again, father and son quietly exited their house. They crept silently through the streets, bathed in the same sickly white moonlight. Sasuke nearly puked as he looked at some of the bodies lying on the side of the road. The young boy was imagining the people who lay dead in their own homes, killed in their sleep. He nearly passed out at the sick image.

"Focus on me, son," Fugaku said encouragingly, trying to distract Sasuke from what he knew he was thinking.

Sasuke nodded, and the two crept forward silently, until something occurred to Sasuke. "Tou-san. Is Itachi-nii-san alright? He didn't really... did he?"

Fugaku only shook his head and kept walking. "I don't know Sasuke. I just don't know."

Sasuke slumped against the wall in despair. Everyone he knew and loved were dead. Even his mother. The young Uchiha could feel his world crumbling around him.

"Son, mind in the present. We have to save Naruto," Fugaku said with a monotone voice.

But when Sasuke didn't respond, Fugaku turned back and froze at what he saw.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, Fugaku-san."

IIIIII

Naruto lay slumped against the wall, not even caring that his best friend had run off. He was too shellshocked at seeing the dead bodies of the Uchiha.

After sitting there for what seemed like an eternity, a voice poked at the edge of Naruto's consciousness. "Naruto, are you alright?"

Naruto looked up to see Itachi's worried face. His brother was in full ANBU gear. He relaxed completely as he saw a familiar figure. "Nii-san! You're here!" Naruto cried, as he ran straight to Itachi, enveloping the older boy in a fierce hug.

"Someone killed them!" Naruto cried into Itachi's ANBU armor. Naruto was sobbing uncontrollably now.

"Shh. Shh. I know," older boy said calmingly. "It's alright." Itachi raised his hand to pat Naruto on the head. He knew it would comfort him. Then suddenly, an ice cold hand gripped his hand just as it was about to touch Naruto's head.

"That's far enough, Itachi."

Naruto looked up to see Shisui grasping Itachi's arm. Shisui was in his civilian clothes, his kunai holster strapped to his leg. His eyes were filled with steel, twin Sharingan spinning wildly. Itachi looked confused for a second before springing into action. Kicking Shisui away, Itachi grabbed Naruto in a firmer hold and jumped backwards, placing distance between the two and Shisui.

Stumbling away from Itachi, Naruto glanced confusedly between the two friends. "Nii-san? Shisui? What are you doing?"

"He's trying to kidnap you, Naruto. He's the one who killed everybody," Shisui told the young blonde.

"What?!" Naruto cried out in alarm. "Nii-san?!"

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!" Itachi said, stepping in between Shisui and Naruto. "He's the one trying to kill you! He's the murderer!" Itachi yelled back, activating his own Sharingan.

Now Naruto was thoroughly confused and scared. Whom could he trust?

"Naruto! Get away from him! He tried to put a sleeping jutsu on you with his hand!" Shisui yelled back, worried for Naruto.

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!" Forming several quick handseals, Itachi readied his jutsu. "Stay close! **Fire Style: Fir-**"

"I won't let you!" Shisui yelled, rushing forward and throwing several shuriken. Forced to cancel his jutsu, Itachi whipped out the kodachi on his back and deflected the shuriken.

Then, his instincts firing up again, Itachi turned around and ducked in the nick of time to avoid Shisui's drop kick. "Get away from him!" Shisui cried. Reversing his grip on his kodachi, Itachi slashed upward, but Shisui was already gone.

"You're slow tonight, Itachi! I'm going to stop you right here!" Shisui cried from above, slashing downward with a kunai.

Itachi dodged to the side, landing near Naruto. He turned to his younger brother his intent clearly visible in his eyes. But it was a mistake to take his eyes even for a moment off of his opponent.

"Naru- Ugh!" Itachi grunted in pain as Shisui appeared out of nowhere, viciously kicking him through a concrete wall. Slamming into the opposite wall, Itachi created a small crater before his body fell limp to the ground. He didn't get back up.

"Shisui! Itachi! Stop it! Stop fighting! Please!" Naruto cried out desperately.

Shisui turned and walked toward Naruto. "It's alright, Naruto. Let's get out of here before Itachi gets back up." He held out his hand for Naruto to take, but Naruto only backed away, fearful. He didn't know who to trust.

"Naruto! Quick! Come on! It's not safe!" But as he put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, a huge shockwave exploded outward from Naruto, tearing through Shisui.

"Agh!" Shisui cried out, torn apart by the force of the explosion.

When the dust and rubble cleared, a dark figure in full ANBU armor stepped out from the shadows of a nearby house. "Hahaha! Clever, my friend. Very clever."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** First cliffy! Short chapter too. Sorry ladies and germs, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. Hope you enjoyed the small action in this chapter. The plot ball's a-rolling and it ain't stopping! So hopefully, the next chapter will be out within the week. Read and review, please!


	7. Chapter 7: Vows

**Chapter** **7: **Vows

* * *

><p>"I'm afraid it's far too late for that, Uchiha-san." His voice was sinister.<p>

Just looking into that single eye made his skin crawl. First, it was his wife, and now, he was holding a kunai to his son's neck. Although Fugaku felt real fear when he looked into the assassin's mask, it was for his son, not for him.

Fugaku knew that his time had come. He just had to ensure that Sasuke and Naruto learned the truth.

"Let him go," Fugaku said, managing to keep the waver out of his voice.

No response.

"Let him go!" Fugaku reiterated with a growl.

"Hn. I don't think so. I think I'll kill him now, then you," said the masked assassin, his voice eerily cheery.

Sasuke's mouth was covered, but his eyes were wide with fear, his legs thrashing wildly in vain. This assassin was simply too strong.

Sasuke looked at his father, begging him for help. For answers. For anything.

"Hahaha! Look at your boy. He has some spirit. Too bad he's gonna die," With a narrow of his single eye, the masked assassin raised the kunai toward the throat before dropping Sasuke, a kunai sprouting from his chest.

But there was no blood. "Hmmm. Not bad. I didn't even sense you until the last second. Truly you do deserve the title of clan head." The words of the assassin were strangely lighthearted. Fugaku could barely sense the man's killing intent. It was very strange for such an assassin.

But feeling that his kunai was buried in something completely insubstantial, Fugaku knew that he had to do something, anything to save Sasuke. Slashing through the man's chest, Fugaku dove through the assassin, grabbing Sasuke, and launched himself away from the assassin. At the same time, the kage bunshin distracting the assassin leapt forward in attack.

The masked man remained impassive as it outstretched his arm, activating his jutsu. Having only enough time for a light tap against Fugaku's leg, the assassin quickly blocked the clone's strike, before grabbing the clone's arm. It exploded into a smoke a second later.

When he landed, Fugaku was surprised to find his right leg strangely numb and unable to comprehend the method by which his clone was destroyed. What was this assassin's jutsu?

Narrowing his eyes at the masked man, Fugaku tried to assess the situation. He was wounded heavily. Barely able to stand, actually. It was taking all of his willpower to defend Sasuke from the assassin. His enemy also had some unknown ability to make himself intangible, but he also had some form of attack that disabled you somehow. He had to be careful at close range with this man.

"Tou-san! Are you alright?" Sasuke asked, truly noticing his father's injured state for the first time.

"I'm alright, Sasuke, but only for so long." Fugaku tried to hide the fact that he would die today, one way or another.

"I'm surprised you actually dove through me. Most people are wary when they encounter my jutsu for the first time." The assassin called cheerfully from across the street. "Too bad for them that it's usually their last time."

Fugaku's instincts screamed out at him as he saw the masked man disappear in a swirling vortex. "Jump, Sasuke!"

Wide eyed, Sasuke launched himself up into the air immediately, landing on a nearby rooftop. Fugaku landed in a heap next to him, panting hard. His left foot looked like it had been torn away somehow.

"Tou-san! Are you alright?!" Sasuke cried out, kneeling next to his father.

"Yes… He hit me with his jutsu." _I'm on my last legs, literally,_ Fugaku thought with a bit of sardonic humor before becoming bitter. _ This was not how I wanted to go, but I'm going to die here, son. I'm sorry._

Sasuke could only look on, helpless and angered, until he saw a huge fireball arc into the night sky. "A signal!" Sasuke said in relief. "Somebody's alive!"

"Yes…" Fugaku said. He was hoping that this would be a good kind of signal. "This is good- Agh!" Grasping his side, Fugaku coughed out more blood.

"Tou-san!" Sasuke said, immediately rushing to his father's side.

"Son, run!" Fugaku gasped out harshly.

Sasuke turned to see the strange masked man standing above him. "Bastard! Get back!" Sasuke yelled, standing defiantly between the assassin and his father.

"It's too late for that, Sasuke-kun." Lifting his hand, the masked assassin reached out to Fugaku's body, but before he had a chance to activate his jutsu, Sasuke drew his kunai.

"I said, get back!" Slashing out at the man, Sasuke was surprised to find no resistance at all. Stumbling forward from his momentum, Sasuke spun on his foot as he popped through the masked man. Falling on his back, Sasuke gathered his chakra hurriedly.

"Fireball jutsu!" A localized fireball arced upward… sailing through the masked man.

"Still fighting?" The assassin asked, glancing over his shoulder at the panting boy lying behind him.

He was answered by a glare and another fireball flying through his head. "Fine then," He said as he turned from Fugaku's body.

"Stay away from him!" Fugaku growled out through the pain. He tried to rise, but the assassin didn't even glance as he gave Fugaku a hefty kick off of the rooftop.

Sasuke could hear his father's pained cry as he landed on the ground.

"Tou-san!" Looking at the spot his father fell off the roof, Sasuke turned his glare at the man responsible. "You bastard! I'm gonna kill you!" Sasuke cried out, his anger overcoming what fear he had left. "Fireball jutsu!"

A larger fireball arced toward the man this time, but like before, the attack went straight through him. But as the attack passed through the man, Sasuke flickered into existence behind the man, ready with a sweeping kick aimed at the man's head.

Sasuke's foot again sailed through the man's head with a pop, but while still in the air, Sasuke grabbed a kunai from his holster and hurled at the back of the man's head.

With a turn of his head, the assassin dodged the kunai, only to have to jump back to avoid another kick from Sasuke who had maneuvered himself in mid-air. _Wire, _He thought as he looked carefully at Sasuke's slightly bloodied hands. Looking at the boy before him, the assassin started to walk forward slowly.

Sasuke backed up as well, but in a blink of an eye, the assassin was in front of him.

"Gah!" Sasuke had time for only a yell before the masked assailant gripped his throat in a vise-like grip, lifting him high off of the ground.

"You're strong for a child. I'm impressed. But still, it's time to die."

"Not. Yet!" Sasuke grunted out. BOOM!

A huge explosion hit the back of the assassin. It singed the man's robes briefly before passing through the man and knocking Sasuke back nearly 10 feet. Sasuke skidded to a stop mere inches from the edge of the rooftop.

"So. You used yourself as bait. You are a fighter." The masked man looked on maliciously at the boy before him. "Or well, you could've been. For now, you are weak, and that weakness will result in your death."

But before he could take another step, chains materialized around him, wrapping him in place.

Looking up, the masked man was surprised by what he saw. Things just got more complicated.

"It's over," Said Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha.

IIIIII

"Very clever, my friend. Very clever," came the voice of the dark figure. Dressed in the black ops armor of the ANBU, he made a very intimidating figure. Drawing a bloody kodachi from his back, the figure stepped out into the moonlight.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are… Itachi!" Shisui stopped in the middle of the street, glancing around at the buildings. He glanced up and saw the clouds covering the moon, shrouding the horrific scene in darkness. His twin Sharingan blazed red in the darkness. For a second, they flashed a different pattern, a more sinister pattern, before the three tomoes swirled again.

Itachi and Naruto were hiding out on the second floor of one of the shops on the street. Naruto was breathing hard, his heart pumping with fear. Shisui murdered everyone! Shisui!

Itachi turned to Naruto. "Little brother. We need to send a signal to everyone in the village. There's an assassin. Maybe more than one. "

Naruto's heart rate and breathing were through the charts as the young Uzumaki fully realized what was happening. He could die!

"I c-c-can't, nii-san! I just can't!" Naruto was on the verge of tears, he was so scared. "He'll kill me!"

Itachi realized that Naruto was close to losing it. "Naruto! Get a grip! Remember your training! I'm right here with you!" Itachi gripped Naruto's shoulders, trying to shake some sense into the blonde.

Naruto took several deep breaths before trying to calm himself down. After a while, Naruto just sniffed in frustration and turned away. "I can't!"

"Naruto! Listen to me!" Itachi said quietly but firmly. "We'll make it! I'll protect y-"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, old friend!" A voice snarled in the darkness. Like a wraith, Shisui appeared in between Naruto and Itachi. Kicking Naruto out of the second floor window, he engaged in a furious taijutsu battle with Itachi.

Blocking and parrying several of Shisui's strikes, Itachi knew that he had to go on the offensive. Narrowly dodging a blow, Itachi took a calculated risk.

Seeing Shisui open a wide swing with his kodachi, Itachi stepped forward into Shisui's guard, using his arm guards to block the strike. A second was all he needed. A quick palm thrust sent Shisui skidding back. With some breathing room, Itachi quickly drew his own ANBU kodachi out and took the classic kenjutsu stance of the Uchiha.

Shisui smirked and charged in with a high swing. Itachi deflected easily and snap kicked at Shisui's stomach. Using the momentum of his deflected strike, Shisui slid by Itachi's side, rolling behind his opponent. As quick as lightning, Shisui's foot shot out and connected with Itachi's backside.

But Itachi had seen it coming and started rolling away to lessen the impact. Even as he received Shisui's blow, Itachi twisted and struck out with his kodachi, cutting past Shisui's shin guards.

Launching himself through the window Naruto had been kicked out of, Itachi landed in the middle of a deserted street, Naruto no where in sight.

"Naruto! Where are you!"

"Worry about yourself, Itachi!" Shisui called out from above.

Jumping away from the point of impact, Itachi barely avoided Shisui's drop kick, which left several cracks in the street.

Both Uchiha, hailed as prodigies in their own rights, stood back up and glared each other down.

"Shisui, Why?" Itachi asked suddenly. Shisui ignored the question and charged in, delivering a couple more swings and hits. Itachi blocked and deflected, whirling around with deadly grace. Shisui may have had speed, but Itachi had a natural skill and grace that even the Hokage would have been hard pressed to surpass. Itachi blocked a few more kicks and swings before pushing his friend back with his palm again.

Shisui stopped his skid and stood back up, smirking. "You don't get it, do you Itachi? Konoha, the Uchiha, they're old decrepit relics. They need to be wiped out and replaced!" Shisui snarled out.

Itachi was confused. "I thought you loved Konoha! You wanted peace between the village and the Uchiha!"

Deciding that he would shed some light on the situation before he killed his friend, Shisui stepped back and took a more relaxed pose.

"Heh! You thought!" Came Shisui's sneer. "Well you thought wrong! I do still want peace, but it's not the kind of peace a place like Konoha can offer! My eyes have been opened to the true way to obtaining peace!" But as suddenly as the outbreak came, Shisui changed tack. "Do you remember that mission I had a year ago?" Shisui began, the sneer on his face turning into a scowl.

"You mean that assassination mission?" Itachi asked confusedly, thinking of the botched mission where Shisui had crawled back through Konoha's gates supporting a critically wounded teammate. He hadn't been there, but he had heard about it through the grapevine.

"Yes. The failure." Shisui paused as he bitterly recalled the memories. "Do you know what happened?"

"I've only read the report-"

"My team failed, and only two of us made it back alive," Shisui spat out bitterly. "We had to assassinate a missing nin but we were ambushed. Our intel was outdated!" Shisui was practically shaking now.

"We aborted the mission too late. Only my teammate and I survived our escape, but barely. The nukenin placed a genjutsu on my… teammate. A sleeper genjtusu." Shisui paused as he seethed over the memory.

Itachi remained silent, waiting for his friend to continue. He knew all about sleeper genjtusus. They were designed to implant false memories in someone's mind to make them believe that they were sleeper agents. They were almost impossible to get rid of.

"You know, I was working on a way to crack the genjtusu. I was close." Shisui growled out, his eyes clouded with anger. "But the civilian council voted to execute her on the grounds of _possible treason_ before I could complete my research! There wasn't even a retrial with the shinobi council!"

Itachi's eyebrows rose, the only indicator of the shock he felt. The official reports said nothing of this. They said that the kunoichi in question had died from wounds.

"But did you know?" Shisui continued. "Did you know that the person the village executed for it's own 'good,' that person was my sister?"

Itachi paused, letting this sink in. "I thought she was KIA," Itachi said carefully, eyes narrowed.

"Ha!" Shisui's words were bitter with snake's venom. "That was the official report, the lie. But she was the one I carried back into Konoha. She was my sister, dammit!"

Itachi could see the telltale signs of tears forming in Shisui's eyes. This was something that had simmered deep in his friend's heart for a long year.

"I appealed immediately to the Uchiha council, and at first, I thought they were going to save her, but it turned out that the council decided to withdraw support! They didn't want to tarnish their precious reputation that they had worked so long to rebuild." Shisui's voice was a cold, calm, monotone that was so numbed by hate and anger that Itachi could barely place it as his friend's.

"Why didn't you come to me?! I could've helped!" Itachi said, desperately trying to unravel the mystery of Shisui's betrayal. This was his friend!

"Go to you? I would rather have died than gone to you!"

"But we're friends! Best friends!"

At this, Shisui paused. "Maybe before Sasuke and Naruto, that could've been true, but seeing you and your family prancing about happily while I'm losing everybody I love made me realize that you and I can never be friends! I lost my parents needlessly! While protecting a rich bastard that didn't deserve to live! My sister killed because of politics! Screw you all!"

Itachi thought back to Shisui's social withdrawal after he had lost his mother in combat and his father to suicide shortly thereafter. Itachi realized then that he should have approached Shisui. Itachi suddenly regretted his decision to 'give his friend his space.'

_That was a mistake, but maybe all is not lost. _But suddenly, Itachi thought to his own family. "Wait! My family… did you…"

Shisui's cruel smirk was all the answer Itachi needed. "No… I don't believe it!" Itachi's face contorted with pain and anger.

"Hn. Maybe not, but the look's on their faces when they realized that they were going to die! Priceless!" Shisui spat out at his friend.

"No! I'll kill you for that!" This was no longer the same Shisui Itachi once knew. Giving in to his emotions, Itachi sprang forward with the intent to kill.

Exchanging blows, Shisui, whose emotions were under control, had an advantage. Seeing an opening, Shisui's kick came like lightning, striking Itachi in the chest.

Sliding away, Itachi panted hard before catching ahold of himself. He was going to die if he didn't control his emotions. Especially in a battle with Shisui.

"Alright, old friend. I'm going to show you something I've never showed anyone else before. It'll be my way of acknowledging our friendship before I kill you." Shisui's Sharingan spinning rapidly, Itachi watched in morbid fascination as he saw the three tomoe morph together, creating an entirely new Sharingan in those eyes. The Mangekyo!

Itachi had read about this. They said that an Uchiha who had a completely mature Sharingan could activate a second stage called the Mangekyo if he or or she killed the person they were closest to. Seeing Shisui now, Itachi doubted that that was the only way to awaken the Mangekyo. The Mangekyo Sharingan, which had certain inherent abilities far more fearsome and deadly than that of the regular Sharingan. Uchiha Madara was the first Uchiha to ever evolve his Sharingan to such a level. Now it seemed that another had.

_I have to act, now!_ Itachi thought quickly, as he anticipated the coming battle. His hands moving at an inhuman speed, Itachi strung together a large number of seals in a blink of an eye.

Shisui, seeing this, only smirked. "Amateratsu!"

Black, unholy flames warped into being and sped towards Itachi.

"Dragon Missile!" A huge, bright, searing dragon erupted from Itachi's mouth, lighting up the entire street in a blinding orange heat. As Itachi's jutsu made contact with the black flames of Amateratsu, Itachi reached behind his back.

Behind his wall of flames, Shisui smirked. Itachi was dead the moment the flames even nicked him. But Shisui's next expression was one of surprise as a Fuma Shuriken, burning with orange and black flames shot out through the flames racing straight for him!

Shisui easily ducked underneath the projectile. _Try again, weasal._

But even before the thought was finished, a stone spike erupted from the ground beneath him.

Trusting his first instinct, Shisui jumped straight up, staying mere inches ahead of the spike, until it stopped five feet from the ground. But as Itachi's jutsu slowed to a stop, the cap of the spike suddenly erupted in a ball of flame as a dragon's head of flame exploded outward, racing for Shisui.

Shisui dodged, predicting how Itachi would strike next. Shisui twisted in mid-air, his arm already raised to block the kick from the shadow above him. Itachi had hidden in his jutsu and was now above Shisui, ready with a powerful drop kick. Shisui didn't expect the power behind this kick though, and was sent sailing down toward the rubble below.

"Fireball Jutsu!" Blasting away the rubble to create a clearing, Shisui twisted to land easily on his feet. But even before he had landed, Shisui looked up to the sky, his eye already trained on the falling object above him.

"Amateratsu!"

The black flames licked into existence, wrapping around Itachi's form.

"Aaaaggghhh!" Itachi fell like a stone, hitting the dirt with an agonizing thud. He was thrashing as the flames devoured him. Shisui stepped a little closer, smirking at his victory, deactivating his Sharingan. "I win, Itach-"

BOOM! Itachi exploded outward with devastating force, tearing through Shisui.

But this time, Shisui exploded in smoke as well.

"I won't fall for that one twice!" Shisui growled, as he flickered into existence behind Itachi, who was in one of the houses, looking about for Naruto.

Itachi had only time to make a half turn in surprise before Shisui's kodachi buried itself in his chest.

Itachi fell to his knees in shock. He stared dumbly ahead, blinking once as he recognized Shisui's face in his field of vision.

"Hn. I win today, Itachi," Shisui said with a cruel smirk. As he reached for his blade, trying to pull it out of Itachi's chest, he was surprised to find Itachi's strong grip on his hand. Itachi glared up at him, his Sharingan spinning.

Suddenly, Shisui's vision blurred as he fell to a knee with a grunt before pulling himself up with a pant. Quickly breaking the genjutsu, Shisui found himself still standing in the middle of the rubbled street.

_Genjutsu, huh?_ Itachi truly was a master if he could cast a genjutsu over the Sharingan, even for a brief moment. "That was good, Itachi! But not good enough!" Confused as to the silence around him, Shisui suddenly realized what was wrong.

_Release!_ As Itachi's double layered genjutsu shattered around him, Shisui barely had time to dodge backwards to avoid the kunai aimed straight for his throat. But even then, he wasn't fast enough, receiving a shallow cut along his neck. That was going to scar.

Glaring at Itachi, who it turned out wasn't injured, Shisui dodged several more swipes before jumping back, clearing the distance and reactivating his Mangekyo.

It seemed that Itachi wasn't going to make a move this time. He seemed strangely cautious. Looking around subtly, Shisui saw a prime opportunity.

"Well Itachi, it's time to say goodbye," Shisui said cheerily.

Narrowing his eyes, Itachi prepared himself, but was caught completely off guard when Shisui started running toward one of the side buildings. Then suddenly, _Naruto!_ "No!" Itachi cried out, throwing caution to the winds, Itachi moved to intercept Shisui, but he was too slow. Shisui was already in the building!

Diving through the street window, Itachi rolled into the building in a shower of glass only to find Naruto cowering in a corner, untouched. _Crap!_ Itachi quickly dove out of the way, too late.

Itachi looked on in horror as a kodachi sprouted from his chest. Falling to his knees with the blade still in him, he looked up at Naruto's horrified face. "I'm sorry," He tried to say, but nothing came out. Then suddenly, Shisui's Sharingan dominated his field of vision.

"Say goodbye to Naruto, Itachi." Shisui's cold smile imparted waves of evil that made Itachi shudder. "And for all the trouble you gave me, friend, here's a little parting gift." Staring into Itachi's open eyes, he activated his second technique. "Tsukiyomi!"

Itachi's world faded as he was sent into Shisui's genjutsu.

"Welcome, Itachi. For the next few hours, you will be subject to my genjutsu. I have control of everything in this realm, even time. They say masters of this jutsu can place victims in the genjutsu for as long as three days. But a few hours is all I'll need to finish you off!"

Shisui's form disappeared as Itachi numbly saw what was happening in front of him. He saw his family: his father, his mother, Sasuke, Naruto, standing there with smiles on their faces. He saw them smile and laugh with each other as they pulled out swords. He watched them smile and laugh as they skewered him where he lay on the ground. Then he watched them die at his own hands, as a clone of him beheaded them from behind. He saw this again, and again, and again. Itachi screamed, but nothing came out. Itachi cried, but nothing happened. It wouldn't end. He was simply too weak to dispel this genjutsu. And it felt so real.

Itachi couldn't move at all, and he lay there, with Shisui's kodachi in his chest, his body going into shock, his body bleeding out.

Shisui smirked at his handiwork. _There goes one annoying pest._

"Get away from him! Fireball jutsu!" A condensed ball of fire arced through the darkness toward Shisui. _And now for annoying pest number two._

"Heh! Too easy!" Shisui said, not even deigning to look at the jutsu before raising his hand. The fireball collided and fizzed away into nothingness.

Naruto stood to the side. He had been cowering in the corner, fearful for his life, until he saw Shisui kill Itachi. Something in him snapped at the sight of his nii-san lying in a pool of blood.

_Itachi's dead cause of me!_ _I was too weak to do anything!_ Hot tears fell from Naruto's face as Itachi gave off a silent scream of agony after being caught in Shisui's genjutsu.

_I have to do something! Anything!_ And without even consciously thinking of what he was doing, Naruto's hands wove together forming the seals for the Fireball Jutsu.

They were familiar seals that he and Sasuke had practiced thousands if not millions of times. Although he wouldn't admit it, Naruto had to practice quite a bit more than Sasuke to master the jutsu to the same level. But master it he did. And if ever Naruto needed a jutsu, it was now.

"Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto cried again, but this time, it was a blanket of fire, dominating Shisui's entire field of vision.

Shisui smirked, his Sharingan deactivated in arrogance. "Your brains pull through every once in a while, Naruto, but today is not one of those days." Hefting up Itachi's body, he threw it straight toward the wall of flame.

As Itachi's body sailed through the fire, Shisui narrowed his eyes. "I take that back, Naruto. That was clever. Itachi's taught you well."

When the fire was gone, neither Naruto or Itachi were in sight anymore.

Shisui wasn't worried though. Closing his eyes, he cast about, searching for his chakra signature. There. Itachi still hadn't broken the genjutsu, but in all actuality, Shisui was surprised that Itachi was still alive.

_Oh well. Time to finish the job._ But just as Shisui was about to move, he felt another presence at the edge of his senses. ANBU! Eyes narrowed in concentration, Shisui knew that he would have to finish this fast.

_But how did they catch on so fast?! I made sure to mask every signature!_ Shisui pondered the question briefly. _Itachi's fire jtusu! He signaled them!_ Shisui was angry now. Even now, the bastard was still making trouble.

Disappearing in the flicker he was known for, Shisui vanished from sight with a malicious hiss. In the shadows of the very building Naruto was hiding in, Shisui now lay in hiding, readying his blade.

In an instant, Shisui was out, his blade at the ready. Naruto's back was exposed, his neck a vulnerable target. A whisper in the wind, Naruto only had to time to half turn in surprise at the attack before Shisui was right there, his blade flashing cruelly in the dark moonlight.

Eyes wide, Naruto could only stare in horror as he saw his life ending before his eyes.

But just as the blade was poised to deal the killing stroke, everything stopped with the clang of metal on metal. Shisui scoffed in anger.

"That's far enough, Shisui-san." Hatake Kakashi, Copy Ninja of Konoha had arrived.

IIIIII

It had been several days since the… massacre when Sasuke bolted up in his hospital bed. All he could see was that orange mask, that swirl, and that evil Sharingan. Sasuke glanced around fearfully, making sure that everything was safe. He hated going to sleep now, especially in this hospital. He was being treated for some nonsense like trauma, shock, and psychological damage. Honestly though, Sasuke was glad for the care.

After finding out that Itachi was alive, but in a coma, Sasuke knew that his stay in the hospital was up. The doctors couldn't do anything for his older brother, it seemed. Sasuke imagined a future where his brother lay in that bed for the rest of his life, unmoving. He may as well have been dead.

Getting up silently, Sasuke moved to his room's window, opening it up. He stuck his head out, taking in a breath of the cold morning air. Looking around briefly, Sasuke leapt out of the second story window, landing on a nearby roof. It was still early in the morning, just before dawn. No one around. Perfect. Clambering to the ground, Sasuke's feet brought him toward that familiar path to the Uchiha sector of the village.

The young boy wasn't sure what he would find there, but still, he continued forward until he caught sight of those familiar gates. Breaking the ticker tape blocking off access, Sasuke stepped over the threshold… and nothing happened.

Walking around, Sasuke could still see the blood marks where people's bodies had lain. The bodies were gone now, taken away. Then, Sasuke found himself standing in the central courtyard. The very spot where he heard his father's last words. He thought back to that moment when the masked assassin had fled.

Sasuke could see the Hokage, standing tall and proud even in his age, ready to destroy this masked monster. Sasuke remembered his sigh of relief as he saw that mask disappear with a hissing swirl. He also remembered the chills that crawled up his spine at the assassin's last words. "Next time, little warrior, we shall see if your hatred is powerful enough for me."

Sasuke hadn't thought at all about those words, because he was instantly at his father's side. He thought to his father, who had died in front of his very eyes.

_Tou-san… Nii-san… Kaa-san… _Sasuke's thoughts were mixed as tears started to form in his eyes. He didn't know what he thought, his heart was so numb at the moment. Then he thought of his father's last words. He had said, "Power is not everything. Never forget your humanity, Sasuke. It's what gives shinobi like us true strength. I'm sorry, though. I… love you, son. We all do." And with that, Fugaku took his last breath.

In the days following the massacre, Sasuke had thought about the parting words of both his father and the assassin. His father's words he still didn't understand, but now, standing here at the spot where everything had fallen apart for him, Sasuke understood the words of the assassin.

He hated with every fiber of his being this masked man. He hated him for everything he had caused. In his mind, the images of his father, dying, his mother, smiling, and his brother, comatose, flashed past him, fueling the hatred growing in his gut. Before this, he hadn't allowed himself to think about his loved ones, but now, as the emotion poured out, the hatred he felt for that mask, the thirst for vengeance, Sasuke knew what his life goal was.

He wouldn't let their deaths be in vain. He would avenge his family, his clan. He was the last… No! One of the last Uchiha, and it was his duty to avenge the clan! His duty, and his alone!

Falling to his knees, hot tears fell from Sasuke's face, spilling onto the ground below him. Sasuke lifted his face to the sky and started screaming horribly. Pounding the ground with his fists, a vile energy seemed to stir around the boy. With each pound, the pressure of this other presence increased.

Again, again, and again! Finally, it was too much for him. "I WILL BECOME AN **AVENGER!**"

The energy around Sasuke suddenly exploded outward, creating a crater where Sasuke lay on his side, in a fetal position, still crying. It wasn't until several minutes later that a team of ANBU would find a broken boy lying in a big crater. They would wonder where such a huge killer intent had come from.

IIIIII

At the same time, Naruto had woken up in the hospital. He had felt something when he woke up. He couldn't tell what it was, but it felt strangely… familiar. Then he remembered why he was in the hospital.

He remembered when the medics had almost pronounced Itachi dead on the spot, but that guy who saved him, Kakashi or something, had made the medics save Itachi somehow.

He remembered Shisui's snarl as he left in a flicker. Every night, he had dreams of the moment when Shisui had stabbed Itachi. Then it would always be him next, but right before he died, he always woke up in a cold sweat.

Naruto was always looking around his back, making sure that it would be alright. But he hated himself for just standing there when Itachi was almost killed. Mirroring Sasuke's actions from earlier that morning, Naruto moved to the window and made his escape from the second story window.

Making his way to his apartment, Naruto opened the door for the first time in several months. He had gotten so used to staying over with Sasuke and his family that he had nearly forgotten about his apartment.

Opening the door with a slight push, Naruto coughed as the dust flew around him. Walking around his apartment, he was surprised to find it neat and tidy. He had probably cleaned it up before practically moving to Sasuke's.

There was dust everywhere, but to be expected. Naruto dug around his fridge, to find it running smoothly. He looked at the contents of the fridge and wrinkled his nose in disgust at what he found. Some pretty rotten stuff. Gross.

Deciding to clean out his apartment later, Naruto turned around to catch sight of an old picture. A picture from his first few weeks with the Uchihas.

Naruto could see himself, Sasuke, and Itachi, playing around in a field. They were having fun playing tag. Naruto teared up a bit seeing that. These are old pictures, he thought.

Picking up another picture, Naruto blew the dust off, and was surprise to find a shot with him and Sasuke, standing back to back, looking smug as they stood in "cool" poses.

These were the few pictures that Naruto had of the people he considered his family, and he treasured these. Looking around, Naruto realized something. Fugaku, Mikoto, they were dead. Itachi, he was in a coma. And Shisui, he really was a traitor.

Naruto hated Shisui. Plain and simple. But Naruto thought to the last night, when he had received a surprise visit from his sensei, Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto had said in surprise. "What are you doing here?!"

Iruka had smiled and said, "Just checking up on you Naruto. Making sure you're alright and all that good stuff."

Naruto grinned at that, and the two had gotten in a short and lighthearted conversation. Iruka was glad to see Naruto bounce back so easily, but he could still see the deep scars underneath Naruto's exterior. He hid it very well.

That night, Iruka had also looked in on Sasuke Uchiha, but the boy was much colder than Naruto. He refused to open up to anyone, and that worried Iruka, but he had let it go for the moment.

A little more talking, and Naruto had poured out everything to Iruka. He told Iruka about how he felt when he thought Itachi had died. He told Iruka about his hate for Shisui, and his sadness at knowing that his family was… dead.

Iruka had looked sadly at the boy before him. This was not something that any child Sasuke and Naruto's age should ever face.

But he was surprised at the depth of emotion that Naruto felt when he talked about the Uchihas. It seemed like he truly was a part of the family. Iruka had had his reservations about Naruto, but that night, they all disappeared. Iruka realized that all the rumors surrounding the boy were false. Iruka was so reminded of himself, that he couldn't help but reach out to the hurting boy.

Iruka was slightly horrified to hear Naruto talk about revenge in such a serious and dark way, though. This was only talk he heard from veteran chuunin and jonin. Not from an Academy student. Finally, Iruka told Naruto his secret. "Naruto," he had said softly. "Vengeance solves nothing."

Naruto looked confused but remained quiet. "The quest for revenge doesn't make you stronger. True strength comes from your loved ones. People you'd do anything to protect. That's true strength. Think about that."

And before Naruto knew it, Iruka had ruffled his hair and left the room.

Naruto thought back to that conversation now, standing in his old apartment. He had had an old life where he knew loneliness, but that all changed when he met the Uchihas. When he met Sasuke. He realized why he hurt so much, knowing about their deaths. He loved them.

Sasuke and Itachi were like brothers to him.

Standing there in his apartment, Naruto truly took to heart Iruka's words the previous night.

Running out of his apartment, Naruto climbed up onto the roof. Looking over Konoha as the sun rose over it, he made a new vow, yelling it out for the village to hear.

"Today, I, Uzumaki Naruto, vow to grow stronger to protect all of my friends and family. My loved ones. I will protect them with everything I have! Believe it!"


	8. Chapter 8: Division

**Chapter 8**: Division

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat in the center of the Uchiha compound. He looked around at the empty buildings around him, swathed with the setting sun. He was alone with the ghosts of his family. If he sat hard, he could imagine their hustle and bustle as if they were still alive.<p>

But then, he thought of the assassin, and of Shisui. He had found out that Shisui had been an accomplice to the masked man. He was the one who practically killed Itachi-nii-san. And suddenly, Sasuke felt hatred. Dark, black, and oppressive hatred. He wanted revenge so badly, he would do anything for it. But he needed power. More power if he wanted to even stand a chance against Shisui and the masked man.

Sensing a presence behind him, Sasuke tilted his head to the side to get a view of the stranger. Him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke's voice was cold, but it still held a hint of the happiness that the boy must have once held.

The stranger smirked at the harsh greeting. "There's a way to get power, you know."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but didn't reply.

"I can give you power, Sasuke," continued the stranger. "Power to avenge your clan. The power to truly bring the killer to his knees. To make him feel the same pain you feel. The power for revenge!"

The only hint that Sasuke had heard was a moving of his head. Sneering, Sasuke quietly got up and walked to the stranger. "I'm listening, Mizuki-sensei."

IIIIIII

That morning, Naruto walked through the open market, listening to the hustle and bustle of the crowd around him. It had been a whole week since the massacre and since Naruto's new vow to protect his loved ones. But he found problems every now and then, especially when he thought of Shisui.

The two had been friends before the massacre, and Naruto couldn't help but remember the old happy Shisui whenever he thought about the person who had tried to kill him. That person definitely wasn't Shisui… but it was.

Naruto had come to the conclusion that he would have to try to save the old Shisui, but if the new Shisui didn't want to be saved, then Naruto would have to exact justice for what he did to Itachi-nii-san and all the other Uchihas.

Naruto wasn't used to dealing with these feelings of sadness, hatred, and loneliness, though. The young boy really wanted to talk to someone about it. He would've loved to talk to Sasuke, but he hadn't even seen his friend since the massacre.

In fact, since school was canceled for all Academy students, Naruto would have to wait if he wanted to talk to Sasuke for sure. Naruto thought about the other Uchihas in the classes at the academy. It wasn't fair that they died. It just wasn't fair.

Shaking away his angry thoughts, Naruto moved up to a snack vendor. "I'll take a bag of those right there, sir," He said, half expecting a glare and a jacked up price. But instead, the man smiled and filled his bag up to the top.

"That'll be 10 ryo, please." Naruto glanced suspiciously at the man's broad smile, but decided to fork over the cash.

"Sure thing." That was another weird thing that was happening today. People were being nice to him.

The vendor owner smiled gratefully and handed Naruto his bag of snacks. "Thank you, Nam-

"Oof!" Naruto was suddenly bowled over as something hard hit him right in the stomach.

"Hey! Watch it!" A high, reedy, and loud voice shouted.

Scrambling up, Naruto looked down at a boy who was trying to undo a helmet jammed on his head. "Me watch it! You better watch it yourself, kid!"

"What'd you say?!" The young boy had finally yanked his helmet off and was glaring up at Naruto. "Do you know who I am?"

Naruto glanced down at the boy, and blinked, trying to place the boy, who was stretching up in anticipation of Naruto's answer.

"Nope, can't say that I do." The boy suddenly face-faulted, before jumping back up again.

"I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru! Honorable grandson of the Hokage!" The boy said with a smug look on his face. He half expected Naruto to run away in fear for running into the Hokage's grandson! Boy was he wrong.

WHACK! "I don't care who you are, kid, and if you run into me again, I'll hit you again, got it?" Naruto promptly turned around and walked away, steaming a little at Konohamaru's rudeness.

Konohamaru, who was now sporting a bump on his head from Naruto, looked at him in awe. _Wow, he's the first person to not care about me being the Hokage's grandson! He's so cool!_

"Uh, wait! What's your name?!" But it was too late. Naruto had disappeared into the crowd. "Whoa. I wanna be just like him someday." Running off to tell Grandpa about what had happened, Konohamaru ran through the crowd, who parted as they realized who was running around their ankles.

Meanwhile, Naruto was still pondering the weirdness of everything since the massacre when this time, _he_ ran into someone!

"Oof! Hey, watch it!" A loud voice shouted from near the ground.

The man Naruto bumped into looked down amusedly. "Fancy seeing you here, Naruto."

Naruto looked up at the mention of his name. "Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?"

"Just some shopping. But I didn't think I'd see you here. How are you?"

"Doing alright, I guess. It still hurst when I think about them…" Naruto trailed off sadly.

Iruka smiled sadly at the boy in front of him. "That's alright, Naruto. It's okay to think about them, but don't obsess over them. It's time to move on."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just… It's just…" Naruto trailed off again, before smiling a small but genuine smile. "It'll take some time, that's all."

Iruka smiled back. "So what are you doing here, Naruto? I thought you'd be training with Sasuke." Iruka said, while picking up some more items.

"Yeah, well, I can't seem to find Sasuke. It's like he's MIA or something." Naruto looked over at what Iruka was buying. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, this?" Iruka said, flapping the paper he was holding. "It's chakra paper. It tells you what elemental affinity you have. I was going to bring it in to class when it starts back up again, but I thought that I'd wait for a bit."

"Ooh! Can you show me how it works?! Please, please!" Naruto was jumping around excitedly, with what he assumed to be a cute pout on his face.

Iruka grimaced. "Alright, Naruto. Just don't try to pout anymore. You're thirteen, not three."

At this, Naruto glared a bit at his sensei before breaking out into a grin. "Yeah, sure. Whatever works, Iruka-sensei!"

Chuckling, Iruka payed for the chakra paper and turned back to Naruto. "Ok, so do you remember my lessons about chakra affinity?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! Um… Nii-san and tou-san… taught me about them." The mood darkened for a moment, until suddenly, Naruto's face broke into a wide smile. "There are five elements, and if you have a certain affinity, you'll be able to perform techniques for that element more easier!"

"That's right, Naruto. And it's easier, not more easier." At Naruto's blank look, Iruka just sighed. "Never mind. Anyways, channel a bit of chakra into the paper, and it'll show you what affinity you are."

"Ok, great!" Naruto yelled, excitedly snatching away the paper from Iruka.

"Hey-"

"Whoa! It split!" Naruto said excitedly, bending to pick up the two pieces of paper.

Iruka raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wow. I wasn't expecting that. That means you have an affinity for wind natured chakra. Pretty rare in Konoha actually."

"Really?! Woohoo! I knew I was awesome!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and down in a victory dance.

Chuckling, Iruka went on to explain how the rest of the affinities could be tested with the paper. But then, the young teacher looked up into the sky. He nearly stiffened in alarm when he saw the two hawks circling the sky. But then he remembered Naruto, and didn't want to alarm the boy. Could the meeting have something to do with Naruto's… circumstances?

"Uh, Naruto! I've got to run! I've got a… uh… teacher's meeting at the Academy!" With that, Iruka turned and started walking quickly away, not even waiting for Naruto's response.

Slightly taken aback, Naruto hesitated. "Uh… Alright, Iruka-sensei. Say, can I have another piece of chakra paper?" Naruto asked cheerfully, running with his sensei for a bit. "I want to show Sasuke!"

"Sure thing. Here ya go." Handing the slip to Naruto, Iruka gathered his items and began to make his way to the Hokage's tower in a rush.

"Thanks sensei! See ya later!" Naruto yelled at the retreating figure.

"Yeah! You bet!" Iruka called over his shoulder, his form disappearing in a cloud of dust.

"Wait! Sensei! The Academy's the other way!" When he realized Iruka was already out of hearing distance, Naruto shrugged and went on his way.

IIIIII

All day, Naruto had gone around, searching for Sasuke, and all day, he had seen no sign of his friend. As the sun shone bright in the sky, Naruto leaned against a wall, sighing in disappointment.

"Where could Sasuke be?" He asked himself. As Naruto was ready to head home, a masked ninja flickered in front of him.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" the ANBU asked.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Naruto replied warily.

"You're being summoned by the Hokage. Utmost importance. Come with me, now." Without being given a chance to reply, Naruto was grasped by the arm and literally dragged to the Hokage's Tower.

"Hey! I can walk on my own! Thank you very much!" Naruto yelled indignantly, trying to stay on his feet. The ANBU didn't seem to hear, as he continued to drag Naruto to the Hokage.

Naruto was nervous, trying to make a break for it. Could it be possible that he had been found out? Was the itching powder in the Inuzuka nin-dogs' bath water that bad? _Yeah, it was that bad._ Naruto thought fearfully. He could already see the old man's glare and whatever punishment he may have thought up of. _Oh please let it not be a ramen ban again!_

Before Naruto knew it, he was in front of the Hokage's door. With a quick rap, the ANBU announced his presence and entered on the Hokage's word. Leading Naruto inside the office, the ANBU flickered away, the door closed tightly behind him.

The Hokage sat in his chair, eyes closed, puffing a pipe. With his calm expression and robes, the old man looked like a monk meditating, if it weren't for the Hokage's hat. The reality wasn't for off. The Hokage was pondering the issue of Naruto's heritage, which was supposed to be a secret, and how it had been revealed to the village.

Somehow, a sample of Naruto's blood had been 'luckily' misplaced in a batch scheduled for DNA testing. It had been cross referenced to records that he thought were destroyed. It didn't take long for the results to spread from the lab to the streets, and from the streets to the newspaper, and from the papers to every house in Konoha.

Was this Danzo's doing? And it could not have been a coincidence that it happened now, with the massacre. Thankfully, Naruto seemed old enough to handle the truth. Hopefully, it would be the only truth revealed to Naruto. But Hiruzen knew the truth. He couldn't tell Naruto about one without the other. Hiruzen sighed, thinking not for the last time that being Hokage again was just too much to come out of retirement.

Naruto was already sweating bullets, but before he could say anything, the Third opened his eyes and gave a sigh.

"Naruto, do you know why I've called you here today?" His voice seemed old, heavy, and grieved. There was a clear difference between this voice, and the usual tone Naruto heard when conversing with his Ojii-san.

"No…" Came the hesitant answer.

Another sigh. This time even more heavy laden, even as a cloud of smoke wafted into the air. The Third didn't want to do this, but Danzo had forced his hand. _Does he think me so weak as to allow this?_ The Third wondered in his head. Suppressing his internal growl, the Third looked once again upon Naruto.

"Naruto, my dear boy, it's time I told you about your father."

IIIIIII

"Finally, I think I've got it." Sasuke mutter under his breath. The moon hung in the sky, bathing the scene in an eery white light. All day, Sasuke had hidden in the ruins of the Uchiha compound, practicing the jutsu he had found in the forbidden scroll Mizuki had him steal.

A part of Sasuke whispered that this was wrong, a crime, but the other half of Sasuke, the one crying for revenge, drowned it out. But with the moon in the sky, and with the long wait for Mizuki to show up, Sasuke had begun to grow doubtful again. Had Mizuki set him up? But he was a sensei. What could he have set him up for?

Sasuke banished those thoughts and turned back to the jutsu he was learning. Raiton: Lightning Storm. Supposedly, it had been created by the Fourth Hokage, and could be completed in stages. The first was summoning lightning chakra to one's hands.

Having never encountered lightning elemental jutsus before, Sasuke took most of the day just to master summoning the chakra. It took another two hours to even scratch the surface of the first step. The young Uchiha had no idea how monumental his actions were, considering he was only an academy student.

Calming himself, Sasuke took a deep breath and outstretched his palm. Closing his eyes for focus, Sasuke felt for his chakra. It was there, surging forward, like a wildfire, like chain lightning, ready to be unleashed. Gathering the chakra to his palms, Sasuke manipulated his chakra. Shaking and vibrating, the energy in Sasuke's palm suddenly erupted into a sheet of lightning, dancing across his fingertips.

The darkness lit up with a crackly blue hue, which died as quickly as it had appeared.

The young Uchiha smirked at his accomplishment. He was one step closer.

So involved in his training, Sasuke completely missed a presence approaching behind him.

"Sasuke!"

Eyes open in mild terror, Sasuke whirled around, a kunai materializing in his hand, poised at the ready.

"Dobe! What are you doing?! Sneaking up on me like that?!" Sasuke whispered furiously.

Naruto ignored the question, a haunted look in his eyes. The blonde was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to notice Sasuke's strange behavior. "I… I have something to tell you…"

Sasuke slowly put his kunai away, slightly worried. His friend was never like this. Sasuke gestured for Naruto to continue.

Deep breath. "I'm… I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage."

"…" Sasuke's eyes widened, as he tried to take this in. Naruto, his best friend, his brother, practically, wasn't just a regular orphan. He was the son of the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage! A deep part of Sasuke felt resentment that Naruto had discovered his lineage when his own had just been destroyed by… that man.

But the other part of Sasuke, the bigger part, the part that was bonded by brotherhood to Naruto, was happy. A smirk suddenly broke out on Sasuke's face as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "That's great man! You know who your dad is now!"

Naruto cracked a smile in return, but was still heavyhearted. "Yeah, I guess. I wanted you to know, but you can't tell anyone else… about this or what I'm about to say."

Never had Sasuke seen Naruto so serious before. "There's more?"

"It's about the Kyuubi."

"You mean, the fox that attacked Konoha?" Sasuke asked, confusion lining his voice.

Sighing, Naruto realized that this was harder than he thought, but proceeded to tell Sasuke everything the Third had told him. He had, after all, wanted to be the one to tell Sasuke.

When Naruto finished, he looked carefully at his friend to gauge a reaction. Sasuke only sat there, trying to process it all.

"Tou-san, Kaa-san, Nii-san, they all knew about this, didn't they." It was a statement, not a question.

Naruto hadn't thought about that. "Yeah, I guess they did," Naruto replied.

"Then there must have been a good reason that the Fourth – your father – sealed the fox into us then." Sasuke's declaration held a sense of finality and acceptance.

"So… You're not mad?" Naruto asked apprehensively.

"What's there to be mad about?" Came Sasuke's answer, the strain in his voice unnoticed by Naruto. "I mean, it's not like your dad had a choice. And if tou-san agreed, then obviously they had only the best intentions in mind." Actually, in Sasuke's mind, this worked out perfectly. Everybody talked about how strong the Kyuubi was. If the thing was sealed in him, then he could harness its power to kill _him_.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, too happy to see beneath the mask Sasuke had erected. Naruto then noticed the unfurled scroll lying behind Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke. What's that?" Naruto brushed past Sasuke and unfurled the scroll. "Lightning Storm? Kage Bunshin? What is this stuff?"

Sasuke glanced behind him quickly, then back again. But before he had a chance to respond, a maniacal laughter filled the air.

"Well, well, well. It's the little demon and traitor." Out of the dancing shadows, a dark figure emerged, twirling a kunai around his finger. Mizuki!

Sasuke's eyes widened in realization of Mizuki's betrayal, but before he could say anything, Naruto burst out. "Mizuki-sensei? What's going on?"

"Naruto-" Sasuke began.

"I'm here to reclaim a stolen forbidden jutsu scroll." The smugness oozed out of every word.

"Stolen?" Naruto asked, oblivious.

"By dear little Sasuke here, if you can believe it." The smugness increased.

Naruto turned on Sasuke. "Is it true? Is that thing stolen? And it's filled with forbidden jutsu?" Naruto asked, eyes hardening into a glare.

Sasuke glared back. "It's a setup, dobe!"

"Yeah right! You were obviously practicing from it when I got here!" Naruto took a step back, clearly unsure of who to believe.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. I'm here to take the scroll and to kill you two weaklings!" Mizuki sneered, unloading his killing intent on the two boys. "Not necessarily in that order."

Sasuke and Naruto froze in place, as they felt a wave of killing intent wash over them. Mizuki wanted them dead!

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Naruto frozen with fear, his body shaking. Sasuke was afraid too, but he was the only chance of survival here. Looking forward fearfully, Sasuke saw Mizuki walking closer, gloating, with an air of nonchalance, as if he killed defenseless boys everyday. Being a shinobi, he probably did.

"You two are pathetic! The power of a tailed beast, WASTED on trash like you weaklings!" Mizuki moved ever closer, catching his kunai in a downward grip, the blade glinting evilly in the moonlight.

"After I end you two, maybe I'll truly wipe out the Uchiha clan for good. It was a weak clan undeserving of the Sharingan anyways. Pathetic." Sneering down at Sasuke, Mizuki could feel the anger rolling off from the boy.

Sasuke growled, as he struggled to get his body under his full control again. The young avenger called forth his feelings of anger, his feelings of hatred, and his feelings of vengeance to the forefront.

Mizuki grinned sadistically, wanting to mentally break the boys. "I'll finish what Shisui started."

Sasuke finally snapped, roaring with white hot rage. "I'll kill you!" But even with a kunai in hand, Sasuke could barely force himself to rush at Mizuki.

"As if! You can't even move! I think I'll kill little blondie here first," Mizuki sneered, raising his kunai towards Naruto, who was too terrified to do anything.

But seeing Mizuki move towards his friend, his brother, Sasuke suddenly sprung into action.

"DIE!" Sasuke yelled, slashing his kunai toward Mizuki, who was caught off guard.

Jumping back, the traitor sneered. "This might be fun after all."

Mizuki rushed in toward Sasuke, who stood his ground, ready to defend. As Mizuki closed in, he was forced to jump back to avoid a kunai thrown at his head. Glaring at Naruto, who had summoned the courage to fight back, Mizuki snarled. "Looks like this is just getting annoying!"

"Stay away from my friend, you bastard!" Naruto yelled, moving towards Sasuke.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, a searching look in his eye. "Stay back, Naruto. This guy's mine."

"Teme, are you crazy, we need to take him down together! He's a chunin!"

"No! He insulted me, he insulted my family, and he insulted my clan! This is personal!" Sasuke said, unthinking of the consequences.

Naruto's eyes clouded over with anger. "Personal, huh? So I'm nothing to you?!"

Before Sasuke could respond, Mizuki took this opportunity to hurl one of the giant shuriken he had on his back.

Snapping their attention back to the imminent danger, both boys jumped out of the way as the deadly projectile sailed past, splitting the two from each other.

As Sasuke landed, Mizuki materialized behind him, gripping him by the neck and hurling him at a nearby wall.

Sasuke cried out in pain as he slumped down, a cry that was immediately cut off as Mizuki's hand clamped around his throat.

"You're gonna die here, you worthless little traitor!" Mizuki sneered, tightening his grip.

"Gurgh geh grahger," Sasuke choked out, his hands rising to Mizuki's arm.

Releasing his grip for a little bit, Mizuki leaned in closer with a sneer. "What was that, traitor?!"

"I said," Sasuke gasped out, "You're the traitor!" Lightning burst to life along Sasuke's palms, arcing across Mizuki's arms.

Mizuki gave a yell of pain as he dropped Sasuke instinctively, before kicking the young boy away in anger. "You little-"

"Fireball jutsu!" Turning in surprise, Mizuki saw a huge fireball racing toward him. His nervous system still damaged from Sasuke's lightning attack, Mizuki was too slow to react. He was hit dead center by the fireball, which launched him into the same wall he had held Sasuke against. When the dust cleared, a charred Mizuki lay on the ground, unmoving, surrounded by a ring of soot.

Sasuke coughed and hacked as he stood up. Naruto sauntered over, grinning, happy that he had saved Sasuke.

"That was cool, huh?! Where'd you learn that jutsu?" Naruto asked, smiling.

Head down, still coughing, Sasuke managed to mutter out, "You idiot!"

"What?" Naruto was confused. He had just saved Sasuke. I repeat, he had just _saved_ Sasuke!

"I said that you're an idiot! I told you it was personal! I was going to kill him myself!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto.

"How was almost dying personal?!" Naruto yelled right back, getting right in Sasuke's face. The two boys were eye to eye, glaring daggers at each other.

"Because you're not an Uchiha!"

Silence echoed throughout the night.

"I see…" Naruto said, backing away slowly, the fight gone out of his eyes.

Sasuke seemed to realize what he had said, and tried to say something, anything.

"I guess then that I mean nothing to you, huh?" Naruto spat out bitterly. Turning his back when Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto continued. "Just so you know, they were like family to me too. I may not have been an Uchiha by name, but let me tell you, I thought that we were brothers."

Finally, Sasuke's tongue seemed to loosen. "Naruto, wait. It's not like that–"

"Of course it's not!" Naruto yelled. "You're too focused on yourself that you can't see what's around you! Mizuki was right, you're nothing but a pathetic traitor," Naruto muttered out, angry that Sasuke would just trample on the years that they had spent together.

Suddenly, red encompassed Sasuke's vision, Mizuki's words echoing in his mind again. "I'm a pathetic traitor, huh?! Well at least I'm not a nameless orphan like you! I have some worth to my name!"

Naruto's eyes flashed with hatred for a brief moment. "Worth? The worth of a traitor! And besides, I now have a name to back me up. It's Naruto Namikaze to you, Uchiha!"

Getting right in each other's faces again, the boys squared off, ready to come to blows. Sasuke scoffed, "You think you're so good now, don't you? Son of the Fourth Hokage? Well let me show you that the Uchiha name isn't just for show! I'm better than you ever will be!"

"As if you could even dream of being better than me!" Naruto retorted. "From this day on, Uchiha, I pledge my name as a Namikaze, as the son of the Fourth Hokage, that I will beat you and show you who's better!" Naruto's voice was filled with passionate anger.

"You want to be rivals?" Sasuke asked with a scoff. "Your skill would never begin to rival mine, but I accept. I pledge my name, Sasuke Uchiha, as one of the last Uchiha, that I am better than you, _Namikaze_!" Sasuke spat the last word out, as if it were poison.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, having rolled up his imaginary sleeves, drawing his fist back. "Well you wanna go now, _Uchiha_?" Naruto sneered with equal venom.

"Whenever you're ready, _Namikaze_!" Sasuke replied, cocking his own fist back.

But before the two could engage in a fist fight, a masked ninja suddenly exploded onto the scene in a shower of leaves. "Alright, you two. I think that's enough for tonight." Tapping the two boys on their foreheads, the ANBU activated a simple genjutsu, effectively knocking the two boys out.

Sighing, the ANBU, his mask barely hiding the trace of a scar that ran from the man's left eye to his silver hairline, turned to the man who had appeared behind him. "Hokage-sama, I've placed a genjutsu on the boys. They were about to fight each other, as you could see."

"Yes. Thank you, dog-san. Please take the boys to the hospital for a checkup." The Third said, his face obscured by his hat.

The ANBU nodded, and disappeared in a flurry of leaves, Naruto and Sasuke with him.

The Hokage turned back to the team that was dealing with Mizuki, who was still alive. His mind wandered to the day that he had found out that Mizuki was a traitor. He was planning on stealing vital information from the village and bringing it to Orochimaru. For power perhaps.

The Third sighed. When Sasuke had stolen the forbidden scroll, the Third had allowed it to happen, of course, hoping to draw Mizuki out. He had dispatched a team of ANBU as a ruse, to maintain the facade of the theft.

Of course, what he hadn't been counting on was Naruto's heritage as Minato's son to be revealed on the same day. And there was no way to trace this back to any one person.

In fact, when Naruto asked to tell Sasuke himself, Hiruzen decided to let it play out, going so far as to hint at where Sasuke may have been.

When Mizuki had confronted Sasuke and Naruto, he had still allowed it to play out, hoping that they boys would draw closer. He nearly had to physically restrain one of his ANBU from rushing in.

They were both mildly surprised at the jutsu that Sasuke had used. It was, after all, the first step to Minato's own jutsu. Had he really learned that from the forbidden scroll?

Naruto, too, with his sense for timing, had surprised the Hokage when he hit Mizuki with his fire jutsu. The boy had used only a single seal when most chuunin would have used four or five.

But he had let the fight drag on too long, it seemed. The boys had let their anger get the best of them, and now, it seemed as if their friendship was over.

Hiruzen sighed again. _I'm too old for this crap_, he thought. Gesturing to the ANBU to take Mizuki away, Hiruzen lingered at the scene a while longer. Bending down, the old Hokage picked up a piece of paper lying on the ground. It was a piece of chakra paper, which had fallen out of Naruto's pocket. It was the one the young boy had originally intended as a gift for his best friend – for his brother – and here it lay, on the ground, abandoned.

Sighing again, the Third pocketed the sheet of paper before flickering away himself, leaving behind a cold, dark, empty place.


	9. Chapter 9: Aftermath

**Chapter 9**: Aftermath

* * *

><p><em>This is going to be my best prank yet<em>, Naruto thought giddily. He was hidden away on top of the Hokage Memorial, shrouded by the thin screen of dawn. Naruto reached into the pouch containing all of his ninja gear, making sure that his special "paint-bomb" seals were still there. The young blonde had made them the night before, using instructions memorized from a sealing jutsu handbook.

Thinking of his special tags, Naruto frowned a bit, thinking of the days that he and Sasuke had once used them to ambush Itachi. Suppressing his emotions, Naruto hardened his heart. Those days were long gone. He was Naruto Namikaze, son of the Fourth Hokage, rival to Sasuke Uchiha, last of the Uchiha.

_Forget about being brothers_, Naruto thought bitterly. It had been two months since he had moved back into his old apartment. Since then, Naruto had occupied his time with pranks mainly and other stuff, anything to forget about Sasuke and the ache he felt whenever he thought about his best – no – ex-best friend and the family that he thought he had.

Clearing his mind, Naruto decided to start phase one of his plan. Moving from his hiding spot, Naruto moved the face of the First Hokage, but as he neared the large stone carving, Naruto froze in his tracks, ducking back under cover. There was somebody up here!

_Who could be up here?!_ Naruto thought angrily. Of all days for somebody to be up here, today was the worst. Because the paint-bombs were sealed with so much paint, the seals were actually pretty volatile, and could barely last half a day. If he was lucky, that meant another hour.

Naruto huffed in anger, hoping that the stranger would leave sometime soon.

After 15 minutes, it looked like this guy wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Naruto growled in frustration before leaving the scene in a hurry. He had to find a place to ditch his paint bombs or he would be on the receiving end, a misfire that Naruto had no intention of letting happen. Leaving quickly, Naruto failed to notice who the stranger was.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of Konoha, looked sadly over his village. Where had he gone wrong?

"Minato," he began softly. "I'm sorry for what's happened to Naruto and Sasuke. I thought that by stopping the adoption, I could protect the both of them. I thought that by letting them take on Mizuki together, it would bring them closer than ever before. I thought that by telling them the truth, they would realize the bonds that they share. I was wrong."

"Not only that, but the Uchiha clan has been slaughtered, and the village knows about Naruto's secret. Already, the public opinion changes in favor of Naruto and against the Uchihas, or the two that remain." Another heavy sigh escaped from Hiruzen's lips.

The old man seemed to be weighed down by the troubles he faced. "I am tempted to try and fix this, but I cannot. This is something that only these two boys can fix. I cannot bring them together, but unless they reconcile, I foresee a terrible future in store for Konoha."

"What a failure I am, a retired Hokage taking up the mantle of the hat again. But I must be strong. Have you ever felt like this, Minato-kun, Tobirama-sama, Hashirama-sama?" Waiting as if the stone faces would reply, Hiruzen sighed when he received no answer. The Third Hokage turned from the sunset, the beauty of which was completely lost on the old man, wrapped in his thoughts.

"I hope to pass on the mantle soon, but until then, I must continue to carry the Will of Fire." Leaving the memorial, an old man could be seen walking down the mountain, making his way slowly, his thin frame weighed down by the cares of the world. But if you were to look at the determination in his eye and the fire burning within, you would never have noticed.

Meanwhile, a young blonde was energetically racing through the streets, hoping to make it to his apartment on time.

When Naruto finally reached his apartment, he dashed inside and deposited all of his seals inside a specially reinforced bucket that he had designed for this very purpose. Stuffing the seals in and locking the lids on the bucket, Naruto held the lid tightly, waiting for the explosion to happen. Five seconds later, a muffled boom rattled the bucket, which suddenly gained an extra 10 pounds of weight.

Sighing, Naruto left the bucket where it was and collapsed on the floor of his apartment. He had maybe another 15 minutes before his classes started at the Academy, but truth be told, he didn't care. Naruto was pretty miserable, and not just because of the failed opportunity for his prank.

He thought back to the day that it all fell apart. The day that he had found out who his father was. The day the Third had told him everything. That day, Naruto had wanted to hate his father, but after reading a letter that contained his father's last words, Naruto's hate dissipated. He couldn't hate a man like that. He couldn't hate his father or his mother. They were his parents, after all.

All his life, Naruto had wondered who his parents were, but the day he found out, it turned out that he lost the people he had actually considered family. Sasuke had wanted nothing to do with him because he wasn't an Uchiha.

Naruto closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. He hadn't really allowed himself to dwell on it, but today, everything finally came rushing out.

_Just because I don't have the name! Just because I'm not his blood brother! What a load of crap!_ Naruto wanted to hate someone, anyone. The Hokage for stopping the adoption process, the Uchihas for not pushing harder for it, Sasuke for practically breaking their bond, Itachi for being half-dead in a coma, Shisui for killing the Uchiha clan. His father for sealing a tailed beast in him!

But Naruto found that he couldn't. The only one he could hate was himself. He wasn't good enough, and Sasuke made that very clear. Laying there on his back, for the first time in a month, Naruto let the tears flow. The life he was living now, it was empty, it was nothing. He was alone.

Naruto was somewhere in between. He wasn't an Uchiha, but he wasn't really a Namikaze. How could he be? Every time someone called him that, he squirmed. Being called Namikaze only reminded him of his time with the Uchihas… as a family. Once upon a time.

After what seemed like ages, Naruto got up, washed his face, and made his way to the Academy. He knew he was late, but he really didn't care.

Making his way through the village, Naruto briefly acknowledged the greetings he received from the villagers, who just a month before, had been calling him a demon. Naruto inwardly snarled at their hypocrisy. They were not the ones whose opinions mattered to him anyways.

Darting quickly through the crowds, Naruto finally arrived at the Academy, where he trudged silently to Iruka's classroom.

Naruto thought back to the time that he had loudly complained to his sensei about his new name.

"I hate being a Namikaze, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto remembered yelling.

Iruka raised his eyebrows. "Why is that, Naruto?"

"Because everybody now expects something from me! They're just a bunch of hypocrites!" Naruto cried out, his frustration boiling over.

Iruka looked on sadly. He could certainly sympathize with Naruto, and he could certainly empathize on a deep level. Naruto was an orphan like him.

"But that's not all, I gather," Iruka finally said.

Pausing Naruto bit his tongue before continuing. "No," he sighed out. "It's about Sasuke. I thought that were best friends… brothers. But when he found out that I was the Fourth's son, he thought that I couldn't be an Uchiha cause I didn't have the name."

Iruka got up from behind his desk, moving toward Naruto.

"It hurts, sensei…" Naruto said, barely choking back his sob.

"Naruto," Iruka said, placing his hand on the young boy's shoulder. "I know it hurts, and I know that you may hate the Namikaze name because it looks like it's taken so much away from you, but look at it this way. It's your parents' gift to you. They wanted to leave you something, and the fact that they leave you their name, Namikaze, it shows that they love you enough that they want you to represent them, right?"

Naruto looked up, his tears on the brink of flowing out. "I guess…" He said hesitantly.

"Well, also realize that the name means a lot to the village. I know that you used to have it rough, but now, you're well-liked. Your father's name lifted a burden from you, didn't it?" Iruka didn't like using logic like that, but he had to get his young student out of the slump he was in.

This time, Naruto paused a long while before acknowledging that his life was a little better since he had found out about being the Fourth Hokage's son.

"And as for Sasuke, he may just need time to process what's happened. He's lost his family too, Naruto, and he needs time to grieve. Let him get back into things, and then work things out, ok?"

Naruto nodded, before turning to walk out the door. When he reached the door, Naruto turned back to his sensei. "But he has to come to me first."

Running out of the classroom, Naruto left behind a saddened Iruka. "But somebody has to take the initiative, right Naruto?" Iruka whispered under his breath.

Naruto pushed aside his memories and briskly pushed open the door before him, ignoring the stares that swiveled on him as he found his seat.

"Naruto, you're late. Again," Iruka said sternly, quieting the whispers that had circulated when the blonde entered the room.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei. I had to take care of something at home," Naruto droned out.

Iruka sighed again. This had become a common occurrence. "Alright, Naruto. We're going to have to talk after class about this."

Naruto just nodded before tuning out the rest of Iruka's words.

The day went by in a boring flash, but in a surprise turn of events, Iruka had decided to bring the class outside for a sparring session. Naruto clenched his fists several times in anticipation of some action.

As the class filed outside, Naruto bumped someone's shoulder. Turning to see who it was, Naruto suddenly glared, energy bubbling to the surface as he saw who it was.

"_Uchiha_," He spat out.

"_Namikaze_," came the equally hostile response.

"You should watch where you're going, you know that, _Uchiha_?" Naruto asked belligerently.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, before promptly ignoring Naruto and taking a spot around the little arena.

Naruto inwardly snarled, before taking a spot on the other side.

Iruka sighed, seeing the two interact in a still malevolent manner. "Alright, first up, Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka."

The two students moved into the arena and got into their ready positions. Kiba placed his puppy, Akamaru aside, before giving an arrogant smirk. "I'm not losing today, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's only response was, "Hn."

Kiba growled at this, but was interrupted by Iruka. "Alright boys, you know the rules, so on three, you may start. One… two… three!"

Kiba immediately rushed in, like he always did, swinging high and low with a lot of power behind each stroke.

Kiba was a brawler, but he was also a fast brawler, hoping to take down the other boy quickly and strongly. Too bad his opponent was Sasuke.

Sasuke was just as fast, dodging back and forth, blocking here, and parrying there. Dancing around the circle, Sasuke smirked, defending against Kiba's every attack.

Kiba was starting to get angry, and his strikes were getting stronger, but also wilder.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he was hard-pressed to stay a step of Kiba.

Block. Dodge. Step back. Parry. Strike. Duck. His movements were a blur of reactions to the battle, and suddenly, Sasuke saw his opportunity. Blocking an attack, he stepped into Kiba's guard and delivered a jarring elbow to the other boy's stomach.

As Kiba fell back, winded, Sasuke pressed his advantage and gripped the other boy in a headlock, slamming his opponent into the ground. After 5 seconds of struggling, Kiba finally gave up with a growl.

Panting hard, Kiba staggered back. "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called.

"Guess you still lost today, eh Kiba?" Sasuke asked tauntingly.

Kiba growled angrily and was about to pounce until Iruka stepped in. The other students all applauded politely, as most of them were unsure of what to think. All their lives they had had mixed opinions on Sasuke Uchiha. For the guys, he was the epitome of cool, and for the girls, he was undoubtedly one of the best looking guys in the class. But suddenly, word was that the Uchihas were a clan of traitors, and they were cursed. Look at what happened to them!

Even Sasuke's former diehard fangirls, Sakura and Ino, were strangely subdued. They too had been told to be careful around Sasuke. Not that that was too much of a bad thing.

"Alright, match two!" Iruka called, snapping the students out of their reverie. "Naruto Namikaze and Chouji Akimichi."

There it was again. Namikaze. He wouldn't be able to escape that name anytime soon. Sighing, Naruto stepped forward amid the whisperings of the students. He had heard it all now: Son of the Fourth Hokage. No way. He's still dead-last. He's not that bad. Blah, blah, blah!

Naruto glared and settled into his stance, before he stiffened, quickly shifting his pose. For the second time that week, he had slipped into the tiger stance that he learned from… them. He wasn't an Uchiha, so why use their taijutsu?

Iruka frowned when he noticed this. It looked like that Naruto still had a ways to go.

Chouji settled into his own stance. "One… two… three!" Iruka called out, starting the match. Pausing for a beat, Naruto suddenly sprang forward, his limbs flying into motion. Where Sasuke had waited for opportunity to come, Naruto decided to seize opportunity.

Striking high and low, Naruto thought that Chouji would be easily overwhelmed. Not being too familiar with the Academy taijutsu as he was with the Uchiha styles, Naruto had several gaps that Chouji was able to exploit.

Using a speed that belied his size, Chouji's arm shot forward, trying to break through Naruto's guard. Throwing his arms up, Naruto blocked, but the force sent him lightly skipping backwards.

Wringing his arms at the stinging sensation, Naruto let down his guard, surprised at the bigger boy's speed. Suddenly, Chouji came rushing in, smelling victory in the air. "Banzai!"

As Chouji closed in on Naruto, whose mouth hung open in shock, the tables turned suddenly as Naruto smirked. As Chouji was upon Naruto, the smaller boy dropped on his back and shot his feet out like pistons.

The timing was perfect and Chouji ran straight into Naruto's outstretched legs like a balloon into a pin. Chouji's breath left him in a whoosh and he was laid out flat on the ground, unable to get up. After five seconds, Iruka called the match.

"Winner, Naruto Namikaze!" Again, another moment of uncomfortableness.

The class applauded politely, again confused as to what to think about this next boy. First, they had known him as the dead last, somebody that you were supposed to avoid. Then, he was suddenly the son of the Fourth Hokage and everything changed. Even if they didn't really like him, they had to try to at least be friends with the guy. But he was so antisocial!

A few had taken the leap and tried to befriend him, but even then, Naruto only scowled and muttered something about hyper crates or something like that.

Naruto bit back his growl. He hated the fact that people were now noticing him just because of his name. Thrusting out his hand, Naruto offered to help Choji up, one of the few students whom he had befriended before the whole son of the Yondaime thing. The bigger boy gratefully accepted and pulled himself up. "Good match, Naruto."

"You too, Choji. Sorry if I kicked a little hard," Naruto said with a short smile, scratching the back of his head.

Choji chuckled ruefully at that. "Well, it was a match, so no prob. At least not yet. I'll get you back one day in the arena."

"Whatever you say, dude," Naruto said, smiling in response.

Suddenly, Naruto made eye contact with Sasuke. A glare flashed across his eyes. "_Uchiha_," he murmured. "Good match."

"You too, _Namikaze_," Sasuke replied with an equal glare.

"Next time, when it's you and me, you're going down, you got that, _Uchiha_?!" Naruto said with a steely tone.

"Hn," Sasuke merely grunted in reply. "We'll see."

Walking away, Naruto suddenly ran into another annoyance. Ino Yamanaka.

"Princess," Naruto said, sneering.

"Noodle brain," Came Ino's automatic reply. "Good job."

"Thanks," Naruto replied smoothly, smirking at Ino's nickname for him. Noodle brain. It fit, considering how much he loved ramen.

With a twirl of her hair, Ino suddenly turned and walked away. Naruto blinked in confusion. Ever since he and Sasuke had fallen out with each other, it seemed that Ino had tried to become friends. Naruto smirked at the result. The first thing Naruto did was laugh at her. Then, when she got mad, he just called her a prissy princess, which got her even madder.

Naruto smirked. Ino wasn't the only student in his class trying to be friends. Naruto knew the reason why. He was the son of the Yondaime, Konoha's greatest hero. It only caused Naruto to become even more frustrated. He didn't know who wanted to be his friend because of his name, or because of who he was as a person.

_I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage. I'm practically a celebrity, so of course she wants to be my friend. It'll make her more popular._ Naruto wasn't far off from the truth. Several times, people had come up to him to ask him if he really was the Hokage's son.

Naruto sighed. Now, people acknowledged him simply because of his father's name. _Now, I have to get out my dad's shadow_, Naruto grumbled quietly. Every single time someone called him Naruto Namikaze or Namikaze-san, he would grimace. Something about being called Namikaze made him uncomfortable.

These thoughts occupied Naruto's mind as he left the Academy, ready to head to Ichiraku's for a bite to eat

"Naruto Namikaze?" asked a voice.

_Again? What now?!_ Naruto screamed in his head, before turning around. ANBU. _Oh great._ "Yeah?"

"Hokage wants to see you. Come with me." Naruto grumbled as he was led to the double doors leading into the Old Man's office.

Naruto suddenly barged through the doors very impolitely. "Ojii-san! What's up?"

The Hokage chuckled before putting aside his little orange book – er… paperwork that is – before glancing at the blonde boy in front of him. "Naruto, it's good to see you. How are you?"

"Good," came the customary response.

"Really?"

"Yeah, believe it," Naruto said unenthusiastically.

Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto, don't lie, please. I know when you're lying. What's wrong?" _I already know what's wrong_, Hiruzen thought, _But I want to hear you say it._

Naruto stared back defiantly for a while, before realizing that he wouldn't be leaving unless he answered the question.

"Fine," he grumbled out. "I don't want to be a Namikaze."

Raising his eyebrows, the Third subtly gestured at Naruto to continue.

Another sigh. "I want to earn people's respect because of what I do, not because of my dad's name." A long pause, until Naruto finally spat the deepest truth out. "Whenever someone calls me a Namikaze, I feel like I'm betraying them!" Utterly spent, Naruto's shoulders slumped as the weight of the truth fell away.

The Hokage paused a moment. Naruto was just like his father. Always wanted to earn everything. Hiruzen then opened a drawer in his desk. "I think you should read this, my boy."

Taking the small letter, Naruto sighed, not wanting to do any of this. But he opened it anyways, taking out the contents. Opening up the sheet, his eyes widened to realize that it contained tou-san's writing!

Eyes wide, Naruto practically devoured the page, soaking up every word.

_Naruto, how are you? I don't know why I'm writing this, but your kaa-san's making me write this out. It's not like I'm going to die any time soon, right? But if you're reading this, then I guess I have._

Naruto's eyes started to tear up. He continued to read.

_Anyways, if you're reading this letter, then you probably know about your father and the Kyuubi. Probably even about the adoption. I'm betting that Sasuke and Itachi do as well. I can probably guess what you're going through, and I'm sorry that I'm not there for you. But whatever happens, know this: Even if you are Minato's son, you were like a son to Mikoto and me. _

_If you were to ask me now, at this point in time, I'd probably say that not being to adopt you was for the best._

Naruto's eyes widened in hurt. "What?! They didn't want me?!" He exclaimed to his surrogate grandfather. But before he ran off, the Hokage had quickly got up and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Keep reading, Naruto."

Rubbing away his tears, Naruto did as he was bidden.

_Because first of all, you are your father's son, and you need to bear his name with pride. You're your father's legacy in this world, Naruto, and you need to bear the Namikaze name with pride. Forget about hurting any of our feelings, because Uchiha know the value of a name, and the Namikaze name carries a lot of weight with it. Nothing you can't handle, though._

_Secondly, though, we didn't deserve to bring you into our family, Naruto. You changed us. More than you will probably ever know, but you did. If we could have adopted you, we would have, but because we didn't, I think that you showed our clan that being Uchiha is not that important. It's who you are on the inside that matters, and you, Naruto, are special on the inside. I can feel it. After all, it's a father thing, right son?_

_But lastly, know this. Your father would be proud of you. Your mother too. We're proud of you too, Naruto. Mikoto, Itachi, and I are proud of you. And even if Sasuke doesn't always show it, he loves having you as a brother. Anyways, remember me, Naruto, and remember your father and mother as well. We love you. _I_ love you._

_Sincerely,_

_Tou-san_

The paper drifted from Naruto's hands. Gripping his Ojii-san in tight hug, he sobbed into the old man's robes. Hiruzen hugged Naruto back, comforting the young boy.

"You see, Naruto. You're not betraying your father or the Uchiha."

Sobbing, Naruto hiccuped. "That's not it, Ji-ji. They're dead, tou-san and kaa-san. Nii-san is practically dead, and Sasuke… He hates me!" Naruto thought of the few times he had visited Itachi, only to find Sasuke there. Each time, Naruto had left without a word. Trying to dry his eyes, Naruto took a step back.

The Hokage understood a little bit of what Naruto felt. "Well, maybe you should try to work it our with Sasuke, right?"

"I guess…" Naruto said hesitantly. "It's just frustrating because now, everybody wants to be my friend, but I know it's only because of my dad."

The old Hokage nodded with a sigh. "Things will only get harder, but I trust that you will find yourself good friends."

Naruto nodded, sniffling a bit, before breaking off from the hug. "Thanks, Ji-ji. You're right. I've just gotta let this go and find Sasuke-teme! I should really get going!" In a flash, he was gone, out the door, and into the street.

Raising an eyebrow, the Hokage shrugged and turned back to his desk just as a mini-explosion of paint splashed his entire desk in hot pink. All his paperwork, ruined. It'd have to be refiled and everything. And his robes!

Eye twitching, the Third realized why Naruto was in such a hurry to leave. He'd been pranked! "NARUTO!"

Naruto strode out on the street, the old bounce in his step present again. "Hehe. Can still prank with the best of 'em." As he rounded a corner, he almost bowled over none other than Ino Yamanaka.

"Watch where you're going, you noodle brain!" Ino yelled, nearly falling over.

"You're the one trying to run into me, princess!" Naruto retorted, smirking with all his old confidence.

Glaring heatedly at the other blonde, Ino was about to yell back, before a voice called out from inside a building. "Ino-chan! Get in here now! You have work to finish!"

Growling, Ino turned away from Naruto. "You got lucky today, idiot, but I have work to finish." Rushing back into the store, Ino called out, "Coming daddy!"

"Wait," Naruto called out, stopping Ino in her tracks. "You work here?"

"Of course I do, you idiot! It says Yamanaka flower shop right there!" Ino pointed at the large sign.

"Oh… I must've missed that," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Ugh!" Ino rolled her eyes. "You idiot!" Running back inside, Ino ran off to do whatever task her father had for her.

Naruto, taking another look at the sign, shrugged and walked away.

IIIIII

Over the next month, Sasuke could see the changes in Naruto. He was no longer sad or morose. He was confident, loud, and brash again. A dobe again. On some deep level, Sasuke was glad, but on another, he hated Naruto for moving on without him. For as long as he had known, he and Naruto had stood side by side.

Now though, they were on opposite sides of the fence, so to speak. Sasuke knew why though. He had let anger get the best of him, that one day. He had said they weren't family, practically. That wasn't true. He wanted so badly to take it back, but each time he wanted to say something, he couldn't. His pride kept getting in the way.

Sasuke bit his lip. Now though, Naruto was getting more popular with everybody, and everybody was starting to hate him. Naruto was in the spotlight. Now Naruto had it all because of his name. And Sasuke was left with nothing. Not that he cared, but still, it hurt.

In reality, Sasuke was lonely and grieving. The only times he could talk were when he visited his brother in a hospital, but conversation was always one-sided. Sasuke wanted to be friends with Naruto again, to be brothers again. Sasuke thought to the letter that his father had left for him. It talked about his relationship with Naruto, and that he should treasure family. It even said that being Uchiha wasn't all that important anyhow.

At that, Sasuke was confused. Did that mean that being an Uchiha meant nothing? What about the value of one's name? Sasuke put aside the questions of philosophy and went back to his training. If Naruto was going to come to him, then maybe he'd apologize. But until then…


	10. Chapter 10: Graduation

**Chapter 10**: Graduation

Operation: Graduation Day Super Prank

Operative: Naruto Namikaze

Target: Classified

Naruto stole through the shadows of Konoha, a wraith in the moonlight. This was it. His greatest prank would make this day an unforgettable one. If he could get to his target.

Ducking into an alleyway, Naruto hid himself behind a dumpster, trusting the shadows to hide him from the group of chunin strolling down the road. As soon as the coast was clear, Naruto darted into another alley, weaving and winding through the narrow corridors like a mouse in a maze. The grand prize was the cheese at the end, and Naruto could practically smell it.

Reaching the narrow stairway leading to the top of the Hokage monument, Naruto cursed his luck, seeing a chunin pair standing at the little landing. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto decided to bluff his way through.

Staying out of view of the chunin, Naruto stepped out of the shadows and rounded the corner. "Good morning," Naruto said cheerfully, hiding the grimace when he realized that it was Kotetsu and Izumo. They both knew him and had been on the receiving end of one of his pranks.

"Naruto," Izumo replied warily. "What are you doing out here so early?"

"Eh, just wanted a view," the young blonde replied, trying to keep his tone casual.

Kotetsu snorted, raising an eyebrow. "And you need rope and climbing gear to do that?" He gestured to the gear slung across Naruto's shoulders.

Naruto muttered further under his breath.

"Go home, Naruto," Izumo said. "Hokage Monument's closed for some renovations, and we don't need you doing any more pranks up there."

Naruto snorted, then throwing caution to the wind, drew his hands into a hand seal. Immediately, the two chunin sprung into action, fearing whatever Naruto had up his sleeve.

"You asked for it!" Naruto yelled, before bursting into smoke.

In his place stood a blonde beauty, smoke barely concealing her modesty. Izumo, the luckier of the pair, stood rooted to the spot, gaping at the sight and bleeding from his nose, before his brain went into overload and he passed out completely. Unfortunately for Kotetsu, who had jumped towards Naruto, the chunin was in the air, unable to stop himself from falling onto the beautiful, and seemingly naked girl. Needless to say, Kotetsu shot backwards from a massive nosebleed, passing out next to his friend.

With a huff, the pretty girl got up and dusted herself off. With a puff of smoke, Naruto reverted back into his regular self, smirking to himself. "I should've known you two were perverts." Then Naruto thought about the problem that arose, now that Kotetsu and Izumo knew who would be behind the new prank.

Then Naruto shrugged. _I wanted everybody to know anyways._ Shouldering his gear, Naruto began the long trek up the Hokage's monument, his bucket of seals bouncing lightly on his leg.

When Naruto reached the top of the monuments, he was huffing lightly, but like most other Academy students, he was healthy and fit. Uncapping the bucket, Naruto knew he would have to work fast. His seals weren't the best, and if he didn't have them set up soon, they wouldn't explode in sync. Using the rope and his gear, Naruto scaled the faces of the Hokages, planting his seals all over the various features carved into the cliffside. There was a method to his madness, though, and Naruto needed to place each seal in roughly an exact location in order for the final product to be pulled off. The job took him over an hour, and by the time he finished, the sun was peaking its first tentative rays over the treetops.

Rushing back to the top of the monument, Naruto cleaned up his gear and rushed back down. As he reached the bottom, he noticed that Kotetsu and Izumo were still there, twitching but slowly regaining consciousness. Smirking, Naruto sauntered up to them, and making sure they could see him, yelled out, "Sexy Jutsu!"

As the smoke cleared, the same blonde beauty from before was standing there, and for added measure, she gave a flirty wink. Kotetsu and Izumo wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Naruto thought amusedly.

Quickly moving on his way, Naruto ran back to his apartment, setting up his camera to document his greatest prank yet. If everything went right, the seals would explode at 8:00, right when he and the rest of the students would be arriving at the Academy. Changing into an orange jumpsuit, Naruto began whistling a happy tune. As he walked through the streets of Konoha, which were just beginning to wake up, the people he passed couldn't help but feel a shudder of fear crawling up their spines.

As Naruto came into view of the Academy, the boy slowed down, allowing himself to revel in the moment, Today was graduation, and everybody would be outside for the headmaster's little speech. Even better, everybody would be in plain view of the Hokage Monument!

Grinning with glee, Naruto strolled through the gates, pushing through the small crowd of students who had already arrived. Finding a suitable spot, Naruto leaned back against a nearby tree, content to watch the proceedings. Until Ino showed up that is.

"Naruto! You're wearing that horrible orange… thing again!" Came the horrified shriek.

Naruto glanced at Ino with a touch of annoyance. "Nice to see you too, princess."

Ino ignored him. "Did you pull a prank today?! Was it on me?!"

Naruto was surprised. Did people really pay attention to what he wore when he went pranking? "Prank? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked trying to play dumb.

"Don't play stupid with me, you idiot!" Ino cried. "Everybody knows that you wear that horrible jumpsuit whenever you play a huge prank, cause it makes you feel all stealthy or whatever! So tell me, idiot! Did you play a prank on me?!"

Naruto involuntarily took a half step back, before relaxing. "Don't worry. You'll know soon enough," He said with a chuckle.

"Gah! Naruto! I hate you!" Ino cried, before running away quickly, hoping to save herself.

Naruto smirked, until he noticed Shikamaru next to him. "Oh hey, Shikamaru. What's up?"

Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow. "It better not be me, Naruto."

Naruto grinned deviously. "You'll see what my prank is soon enough, Shikamaru. Everyone will."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said, before sitting down on the other side of the tree, promptly falling asleep, hoping he wouldn't be involved with Naruto's prank.

Naruto blinked. How lazy can someone get? Anyways, the grand finale was about to start. Rubbing his hands gleefully, Naruto glanced around restlessly. Everybody was here. Even Sasuke. Naruto paused momentarily. Shrugging off the conflict in his heart, Naruto set his sights on the Hokage monument. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

BOOM! As everybody gaped at the Hokage monument, unable to believe that magnitude of this prank, far in the distance, Naruto thought that he could hear his Oji-san's voice. "NARUTO!"

IIIIII

Sasuke sat in his seat, brooding. He was watching Naruto laugh it up with his new friends. How he hated that sight. The betrayal he felt. The hatred he felt that Naruto could sever their bond just like that. But underneath all of that, the hurt. The pain that his best friend – his brother, really – could simply toss him aside. Here he was, laughing it up after playing one of his biggest pranks yet. Without him.

Sasuke just growled. Naruto had even gotten away scot free. When had that happened? When had Naruto stolen the spotlight and left him to writhe under the villagers' stares? When?

Sasuke knew when. When Naruto became Namikaze. Sasuke glared at Naruto again from his spot in the back, the spot he had been confined to by the other students. And what had Naruto said? Nothing. Not that Sasuke cared or anything like that.

Suddenly, the laughter surrounding Naruto ceased as the blonde was called up by Iruka. "Namikaze Naruto! You're next!"

Sasuke could see Naruto's easy grin, annoying as usual. Sasuke could see Naruto's grin get wider as the boy entered the private testing room. Iruka would be in for a surprise.

In the testing room, Naruto saw only Iruka and another chunin teacher in the room with him.

"Alright Naruto. You have to perform the jutsu in this test at a satisfactory level in order to pass. Do you understand?" Iruka asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Alright, let's start with the Substitution. Use the log–" Before Iruka could finish, Naruto had already disappeared in a poof of smoke, standing where the log used to be propped.

Iruka sighed. "Ok. Let's the the Henge next." He failed to catch Naruto's wicked smirk.

"Sexy Jutsu!"

"Wait, wha–?" The other proctor managed to stutter out before smoke flashed, obscuring Naruto.

In Naruto's place stood a buxom blonde beauty, stark naked. Both Iruka and his partner's eyeballs nearly popped out of his sockets as the young teachers tried to control their reactions, but alas, it was too much when Naruto blew a kiss. Getting a massive nosebleed, Iruka crumpled, eyes glazed over. The other proctor dropped like a log.

With another puff of smoke, Naruto was back, his signature grin pasted on his face. "Boo ya! Works every time!" Naruto cried out, pumping his fist in the air. Before he had a chance to celebrate though, Iruka jumped up, recovered, chewing Naruto out.

"Naruto! Stop fooling around! Unfortunately… since you were able to… fool me…" Iruka looked to his partner, who was still splayed out on the ground, "I guess that's a pass," Iruka grumbled out very reluctantly.

Naruto only smirked. "Now do the bunshin." Just as quickly, Naruto's smirk disappeared.

Sighing in concentration, Naruto called upon his chakra, trying to use as little as possible. He and the Old Man had figured out that he simply wasn't controlling his chakra properly because he was molding too much for the bunshin jutsu.

Doing his very best, Naruto gave a yell as three clones materialized in a burst of smoke. Peeking through half-closed eyelids, Naruto nearly shouted at the results. One of the bunshin was actually standing, but it looked like it hadn't eaten a day in its life. The other two were sprawled on the ground and looked more like training dummies than actual copies.

Holding his breath, Naruto hoped that Iruka would be merciful. The young teacher sighed. This was typical of Naruto's problems with bunshin. But unlike previous times, Naruto could actually create a clone this tim. Three of them. As the exam rules dictated.

"Come on, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto begged, "They can be used in battle as a distraction. My opponent might… might… die of laughter!"

Iruka nearly snorted, but held it back, thankfully. Naruto had performed the bunshin, and he had a point. Moreover, Iruka knew of the boy's track record. He did well in taijutsu training and was fairly average in academics. He had potential. Iruka looked back once more at his still twitching partner. Must be the first time he's seen that jutsu. Iruka sighed.

"Alright then, Naruto. You pass, by the skin of your teeth–"

"Yes! Thank you, Iruka-sensei! I love you!" Naruto exclaimed, before hugging Iruka and grabbing his headband and leaving the room in a whirlwind.

Iruka couldn't help but smile at the young boy.

As Naruto exited the room, Sasuke grunted. It looked like Naruto passed. He must have been working at that bunshin. Naruto was jumping around like a manic idiot, too. Typical Naruto. Sasuke hated that Naruto was finally able to find acceptance. Sasuke zoned out the rest of the exchange, only perking up when he heard Iruka call his name.

"Hn." In one grunt, Sasuke conveyed his annoyance with the situation, his utter boredom, and his dislike for Naruto. And only Naruto understood any of it, which the blonde responded to with a glare.

Sasuke did his test, and sat back down. Nothing special about this. Just another day in the life. "Hn."

IIIIII

Sasuke felt the need to grunt again as he and the other Academy students filed back into the classroom. Iruka was supposed to be announcing the teams now, but Sasuke just wanted to go home and get some more training in.

Sasuke thought back to the graduation proceedings. Almost everybody he knew had passed. Even Naruto. Apparently, he could perform the bunshin well enough to pass. Sasuke was surprised. _He must have been practicing that at least._

Sasuke thought back to Naruto now, and resented the boy even more. Had he forgotten about the Uchiha and the training he received? It was because of them that Naruto was as skilled as he was now!

Sasuke closed his eyes, furiously trying to calm himself, only opening his eyes when he sensed Iruka returning to the room.

"Alright, everybody! Listen up! I have good news for you today! If you're in this room, then you passed the graduation exam!" Iruka paused, smiling at the cheers that burst forth. "And as many of you may know, you will be divided into teams of three and placed under the instruction of a jonin…" Here Iruka paused dramtaically, "As official genin of Konoha!"

The newly instated genin in the room all gave a cheer and some sort of sign of approval. Even Sasuke, who nodded his head and smirked, allowing the corners of his mouth to turn upwards slightly.

"So now, here are the teams!" Iruka said proudly, and for good reason. He had seen these students for quite a few years. He had taught them skills that they would be carrying with them throughout their lives. Of course he should be proud.

"Team 1!" Iruka called. Sasuke grunted. Unimportant. Zoning out for a while, Sasuke snapped back to attention when he heard his name. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Namikaze, and Sakura Haruno. You'll be team 7!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He was going to be on the same team as Naruto. Was he angry? Was he annoyed? Was he happy? He couldn't tell.

Naruto turned in his seat, grinning, to give a high-five to Sakura, who was a seat down from him. "Alright, Sakura! We're on the same team!" Naruto was cheerful enough, but he remembered the days when Sakura used to be a fangirl. In fact, she still was. It was only the social stigma surrounding Sasuke that prevented it from turning on full blast. Thinking of that, Naruto turned in his seat again, this time to glare at Sasuke in the back. "_Uchiha_."

"_Namikaze_." Came the short response. The students fidgeted in their seats, able to feel the tension hanging between the two boys. They all knew that something had happened between Naruto and Sasuke, but no one knew what it was exactly. Just that it was enough to make them the bitterest of enemies. All the more reason to stay away from Sasuke Uchiha.

Iruka cleared his throat. "You three will be under Kakashi Hatake." Iruka sighed when the only one who seemed to give an indication of listening was Sakura. "Anyways, Team 8…"

Naruto zoned out for most of Iruka's talking, settling to give Sasuke a parting glare. The two of them would be on the same team. That was a bad thing, right? Naruto wasn't so sure. A part of him was… happy? He didn't want to question it now. There'd be time to think on it later.

When Iruka dismissed the class for lunch, Naruto practically jumped out of his seat, moving for the door faster than chain lightning. But before he could make good his escape, Iruka had already grabbed ahold of the boy's collar. "Alright, Naruto. It's time to talk about your pranks."

Iruka's evil smile promised pain, and Naruto whimpered, despite himself.


	11. Chapter 11: First Impressions

**Chapter 11**: First Impressions

* * *

><p>Naruto was pissed. His sensei was late. Sakura was a wallflower. Sasuke was… being Sasuke. Naruto wanted something to do. Anything. Everybody else had already been picked up by their senseis! Not only that, but one of his pranks had just been foiled. And by Ino no less. That blondie was smarter than she let on. Shikamaru too. Naruto had succeeded in pranking most of the other teams when Iruka had given them lunch break.<p>

There was the water balloons, the spicy food, the paint, of course, the itching powder, the rope trap, and finally, there was supposed to be the makeup prank. That was reserved for team, err, whatever team Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were on. Naruto was disappointed that it had failed. _Hmmm. I should be careful when I'm pranking those three next time. They're sharp._

That annoyance only compounded when his sensei was late. Naruto decided that he had to do something. Grabbing an eraser from the chalkboard, Naruto crept unnecessarily stealthily toward the door. Naruto positioned the eraser just right that it would fall right on whomever walked through that door. Hopefully, it be this Kakashi guy. Chuckling evilly, Naruto crept back to his seat.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, incensed at Naruto's prank. "He's our sensei! You shouldn't prank him!" On the inside, Sakura was actually giggling herself. She really should've been worried that she could hear voices in her head. After all, that is just not normal. Sasuke just sat there, cool, calm, and collected. Totally unruffled, but totally interested. Not that he was going to let either Sakura or Naruto know that.

Naruto glanced at the pink-haired girl skeptically. "Really? You would love to prank our sensei, as long as you weren't the one getting in trouble."

Sakura blushed. "What are you suggesting, Naruto?! That I want to see our sensei get pranked?!"

Naruto only raised his eyebrow. But just as he opened his mouth to reply, the door opened and a silver-haired head poked itself in. "Yo."

Then _plunk_.

"…"

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hn." Sasuke raised his hands to shield his face, a shadow covering his face, both eyebrows raised. Translation: "AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Sakura blushed. "Sensei! I'm so sorry! It was all Naruto's fault! He insisted on pranking you!"

Kakashi sensei, for who else could it be, stepped in through the doorway, revealing the rest of his body. He wore the standard shinobi outfit, with the exception of his headband, which covered his left eye, and a mask covering the lower half of his face. Altogether, an unimpressive figure, thought both Sasuke and Naruto, although a flicker of recognition sparked somewhere in the back of Naruto's brain.

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked, his eyebrow raised as he stared at Sakura. "I could've sworn you were the one who was yelling something about a prank when I was in the hallway.

Naruto grinned. His sense of timing was great. Lucky in fact.

Sakura blushed heavily. "B-but… I-I was… Y-You s-see… I was actually… er…"

"All this stammering," Kakashi interrupted, "Really isn't helping your case, pinky."

At the utterance of that hated nickname, Sakura's righteous fury exploded. "Pinky?! Now listen here sensei! That blonde blockhead over there is responsible for the prank, not me! Got it?! I'm innocent! Innocent, you hear!"

"Whoa there!" Kakashi said placatingly, unwittingly taking a half pace back. "Just pulling your leg. You're obviously one of the loud ones in the group."

Loud ones! Sakura groaned as the first impression she hoped to make on her sensei slipped further and further away. She was becoming like Naruto! Except, worse!

Before Sakura had a chance to respond, Kakashi continued. "Why don't we meet on the roof to introduce ourselves. And put this prank behind us, right pinkie?" Exploding in a shower of leaves, Sakura had no choice but to stew quietly in her seat, before getting up and stomping her way to the roof. Naruto chuckled quietly to himself, not wanting to direct any of Sakura's anger toward him. He rubbed at his head, where several bruises had healed, no thanks to Sakura and her temper. At least, until he learned to dodge out of the way.

Glancing at Sasuke, who stayed cool as a cucumber through all of this, Naruto glared. That guy thought he was so cool. Who was he kidding? Naruto screamed mentally, conveniently ignoring the fact that he thought he himself was all that too.

Sasuke glared back, daring Naruto to say something. Naruto thought he was so cool, pranking people all the time, getting all the attention. Who was he kidding? Sasuke conveniently ignored the fact that he thought he himself was all that too.

Neither boy realized what the other was thinking.

When all of Team 7 had gathered on the roof, Kakashi spoke up. "Alright, so why don't we introduce ourselves. You first, pinky." Kakashi smiled, or at least, his eyebrow raised, indicating that he had smiled. It was so hard to tell with his mask.

The grinding of Sakura's teeth was audible. Kakashi's inner grin only grew wider. Maybe in the future, he would have to worry about pissing this girl off, but for now, he could easily handle a fresh genin.

"First of all, my name is Haruno Sakura, not pinky!" Kakashi only eye-smiled again, indicating for Sakura to continue, which she did with some vitriol.

"And I hate being accused unjustly!" Sakura yelled out hotly, striking her fist out as her eyes burned with a righteous anger.

"So I've noticed," Kakashi said easily, "But why don't you share with us some other stuff. Like likes, hobbies, dreams, stuff like that."

"Oh… Ok," Sakura said hesitantly, the wind effectively taken out of her sails. "Um… I like, er…" Sakura glanced once at Sasuke, before blushing. "… Schoolwork!" The pink-haired girl blurted out, realizing her momentary gaffe. "My hobbies are, well…" Sakura glanced another time at Sasuke, who made an apparent effort at ignoring it. "Schoolwork!" Sakura blurted out again, needing to fill in the gap. "And I dream about-"

"Let me guess," Naruto asked with a snicker, "Schoolwork? Aka Sasuke?"

At the same time Sakura blushed beet red to her ear tips, her eyes burned red hot with fire. "Naruto, you baka! Shut up!" She tried with a quick swing to the face, but Naruto easily swayed back out of reach, scooting over to put as much distance between himself and Sakura, but keeping well away from Sasuke as well.

Sakura was mortified, though, when her sensei, Kakashi, coughed twice, obviously to hide the chuckles hiding behind his mask. Blushing tomato red, Sakura continued. "Anyways, my dream is to become a great kunoichi one day, like Tsunade-sama!"

With her eyes glazed over, Sakura completely missed Naruto's whispered muttering, "And to jump Sasuke." But Kakashi and Sasuke did, the former who coughed again to hide his chuckle and the latter who shuddered at the thought, vowing to get revenge on whatever deity had placed a fangirl on his team.

When Kakashi had controlled his suspicious coughing fit, he waved at Sakura to sit back down. "Alright, you next, blondie."

Naruto only raised an eyebrow. After years of dealing with Sasuke's too cool attitude, Naruto knew the only response was to act cool in return. He wouldn't admit that he was secretly impressed that his being the son of the Fourth Hokage didn't cow this man. "Hey, sensei, easy with the insults, alright? I'm no blonde idiot, like some people I know."

"Oh? A girlfriend, you mean?" Kakashi asked innocently, hoping to get a rise out of Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura looked on interested as well, wondering if Naruto had indeed landed a girl already.

"Tch! As if!" Pausing briefly, Naruto wondered what to say next.

_He's completely oblivious to matters regarding women. Just like you, sensei._ "Well, why don't you introduce yourself then, blondie"

Naruto just smirked. "Name's Namikaze Naruto, believe it!" Only Kakashi noticed Sasuke's slight tension at the name. "I like ramen a lot, but I really love Ichiraku's ramen! Their's is the best! I like training too! Especially when…" Suddenly, Naruto paused, as a crack in his happy-go-lucky demeanor suddenly appeared. It disappeared just as quickly. "I learn a new technique." But it was an empty proclamation. Naruto loved training when he trained with his friends and family. That didn't happen a lot anymore. Sasuke was quietly subdued as well. Kakashi even looked on with sympathy. Only Sakura was confused as to the possible meaning behind Naruto's words.

"I hate the three minute wait period for instant ramen! Because then, the ramen isn't instant anymore!" Naruto hesitated. There was more he could've said, but it was too personal. "My hobby is pranking people, as you may have noticed this morning." Kakashi raised his eyebrow again. He had noticed. In fact, he had been one of the people the Hokage had ranted to in the morning. Kakashi was especially surprised when he heard of how Naruto had subdued both Izumo and Kotetsu, both competent chunin.

Naruto continued. "And my dream is to one day be the greatest Hokage ever! Even better than my father, believe it!" Jumping up, Naruto struck a pose, pointing towards the horizon, his eyes burning with a conviction so strong, that Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura all couldn't help but believe in Naruto's dream just a little bit, no matter how implausible it seemed.

Shaking off the moment, Kakashi sat Naruto down and pointed to Sasuke. "Alright. Short, pale, and brooding, you're next."

Sasuke scowled. Naruto guffawed. Sakura vacillated between laughing and defending Sasuke. She settled for squirming uncomfortably.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Kakashi noted that at the mention of the name, Naruto too tensed up. Interesting. _Their rift is still as bad as ever. Hmm…_

Sasuke went on, his hands nestled under his chin, looking very cool, if Sakura did say so herself. Then she caught herself staring and turned away, blushing. "I like a few things, and I dislike many things, but I tolerate them. There is one thing - or man, rather - that I hate with a burning passion. My dream - no, my ambition - is to kill… _him_." Sasuke's eyes darkened with a momentary flare of hatred. "To avenge my clan, and restore honor, that is my ambition."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. So it was true, this boy was walking the path of an Avenger. A dangerous path. Sakura only gaped at Sasuke's coolness, but deep down, there was a part of her that was terrified with the level of hatred coming of Sasuke at the moment. Naruto though, frowned. _They were my family too,_ he thought. _It may be your clan name, but they were _our_ family._

Kakashi frowned, though nobody could tell beneath his mask, as he thought about this dilemma. Sakura was alright, but Naruto and Sasuke… there was friction there, and if left unresolved, it could prove potentially fatal. Not only that, but both boys were emotionally scarred, and hadn't opened up properly to let those scars heal. He suspected that it had something to do with Naruto's lineage and the Uchiha's new pariah status. But it was all speculation. It would take time to work this out.

"Alright team. Nice introductions all around. Now that we're somewhat familiar with one another, it's time for our first survival exercise. We'll have it tomorrow morning at 5:00. In the morning."

"What!" Naruto cried out. "You're crazy! There's no way I'm getting up 5:00 in the morning!"

Kakashi turned a frosty glare on the loud boy. "You can, and you will, or I'll have you stripped of your precious genin rank and have you shelving books for the rest of your life, understand?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stared his sensei down. "You can't do that."

"I can, and I will, if you push me far enough, Naruto." Looking in that one eye, Naruto suddenly realized that Kakashi was deathly serious. Gulping and taking a step back, Naruto nodded.

Suddenly, the icy climate disappeared as Kakashi's brow furled up yet again, indicating a smile. Naruto was caught off guard by the sudden change in mood. _What the heck! Is this guy bipolar, or what?!_

"We'll meet at training ground three. Be there, or face the consequences." Pausing to make sure that each genin got the point, Kakashi suddenly eye-smiled at the trio. "Good. Oh, and don't bother eating breakfast. You'll just throw it up."

Turning away with a final eyebrow-crinkle, Kakashi was ready to flicker out of there, when Naruto suddenly spoke up. "Wait a sec, sensei! You haven't introduced yourself yet!"

Kakashi turned back to his hopeful team. "Hmm… Oh, ok. Well, my name's Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are too numerous to recount, and my hobbies and dreams are none of your business."

Eye crinkling yet again in that annoying fashion, Kakashi burst into leaves again, leaving the three genin alone on the rooftop.

The silence was broken by Sakura. "WHAT! He only told us his name!"


	12. Chapter 12: Teamwork Or Not

**Chapter 12**: Teamwork… Or Not

* * *

><p>"Aaaahhhh," Naruto yawned out. He glanced over at his clock. 4:45 AM. Time to go. With a grunt, Naruto rolled himself out of bed, falling face first onto the ground for all his efforts. Yawning again, Naruto nearly fell asleep on the ground, before he realized what he was about to be late for.<p>

"Crap!" Jumping up, Naruto threw on some clothes and was out the door in a flash, pausing only to lock it behind him.

"I'm gonna be late! There's no way I'm gonna let Kakashi-sensei put me back in the Academy!" He had forgotten all about breakfast. Shame.

Arriving at the training ground, Naruto figured that he was right on time. He found Sakura pacing around and Sasuke sitting beneath a tree, wide awake. "Naruto! Finally! Glad to see you changed out of that jumpsuit. My eyes were practically bleeding," Sakura said, sneering.

Naruto rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Sakura. He was wearing light khaki shorts, and orange t-shirt, and a blue vest with the Uzumaki crest on the back. He had twin kunai holsters strapped on his legs, and his ninja gear strapped around his waist. Adjusting the head band on his forehead, Naruto nodded once to Sasuke, who deigned to nod back in reply.

"Where's sensei?" Naruto asked, beginning to feel his stomach rumbling.

"That's just it!" Sakura exclaimed. "I don't know! He's supposed to be here by now!"

"Maybe he's just running a little late. He was late yesterday, remember?" Sasuke said from his spot beneath the tree.

"Meh, I'll just take a nap while I wait for him," Naruto said, dropping right where he was, ninja gear and all, and promptly fell asleep.

"Baka!" Sakura screamed, ready to punch the blonde, but thought better of it, deciding to let Kakashi-sensei deal with it. Sakura looked at Sasuke hopefully, as if hoping for conservation to strike up. A lightning strike was more likely.

Sasuke only grunted, but closed his eyes as well, napping under the tree. Sakura was left to pace and pace for three full hours until 8:00, when Kakashi finally showed up, perched on a tree branch. "Morning!"

"You're late!" Sakura screeched, pointing an accusatory finger at her sensei. Sasuke and Naruto suddenly woke, jumping to their feet at the sound of Sakura's scream.

"Who, what, when, where?! The ramen?!" Naruto, still disoriented, whirled around, looking for the enemy. He stopped when he saw Kakashi sensei. "Eh? Sensei? You're late!"

Sasuke just grunted in annoyed agreement.

"Hehe," Kakashi chuckled embarrassedly, his eyebrow crinkling up. "You see, a black cat crossed my path, and I had to take the long way around."

"Liar!" Naruto and Sakura yelled out simultaneously.

"Well, it's rude to call your sensei a liar, don't you know?" Kakashi said nonchalantly, before dropping down to the ground and walking over to his team. "But formalities aside, let's just start," Kakashi said. He took out two bells from his pocket, which he tied to his pants. "Alright guys, here's the test. You have to take these two bells from me."

"What? Is that it?" Naruto blurted out. He was thinking of the eraser incident yesterday.

"That's it," Kakashi answered. "By the way, you have to come at me with the intent to kill, or you'll never even touch me. And if you don't get the bells, you fail the test. You go back to the academy."

"WHAT!" all three genin-to-be yelled out. "You can't do that!"

"Actually I can, and I have for the last six teams the Sandaime has assigned to me."

"Then what about that graduation test?!" Sakura yelled out.

"That easy thing? That was just a test to see who could be a potential genin. This test is to see who will be genin. Being a genin is no walk in the park. After all, this test has a 66% failure rate. Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be genin."

There was a collective gasp from the three potential genin as they thought about the implications of Kakashi's words. This was do or die here.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at Sakura. No big challenge there. Then they glanced at each other. Glaring, they both silently vowed to be the victor here. Sakura quailed at the tension arcing through the air.

Kakashi noticed all of this, and sighed internally. If any team could pass this test, it should've been this one. But then again, the Sandaime had been wrong before. It was a lot to ride on these three, considering that the Hokage had specially formed this team with Kakashi as the jounin captain. Brushing those thoughts aside, Kakashi eye-smiled again, unnerving his three students.

"By the way," Kakashi continued, "I have your lunches here with me. If you fail to get a bell by lunch time, you get tied to those posts over there and go without lunch."

All three genins' stomachs grumbled in protest as all three realized why Kakashi told them to go without breakfast. They all glared at Kakashi for the trickery.

"That's downright low, sensei! Very low!" As he held his growling stomachs Naruto drew his kunai and took three steps ready to rush Kakashi. That was as far as he got. A puff of smoke, and Kakashi was holding Naruto's kunai to the back of his head.

Sasuke and Sakura nearly fell back, surprised at the jounin's sheer speed.

"Now, now. I haven't even said go yet," Kakashi chided. He disappeared, reappearing next to a tree, twenty feet away from the genin. Kakashi reached behind his back dramatically, taking out a copy of Icha Icha. The three genin sweat dropped when they realized what their sensei was holding. "Now, you can start!"

Dashing away, all three genin disappeared in a dust cloud, trying to hide in the surrounding foliage.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, his head buried in his book, furtively moved his eyes around the clearing. _One… two… three._ _Not bad. Their hiding skills aren't terrible._

"Not bad, but is hiding the only thing you can do?" Kakashi called out from behind his book.

"I mean," Kakashi continued, letting his taunts carry in the silence, "I expected that Pinkie over there would be hiding in a tree, but I expected a little better from you, Naruto and Sasuke. Gonna stoop to a girl's level?"

Normally, Kakashi would have been content to let these genin fail on their own, but he was interested by this group. Sensei's son, the last Uchiha, and… Pinkie. It could prove to be interesting at least.

As these thoughts were running through Kakashi's mind, kunai suddenly burst from the foliage near Sakura's position. Kakashi's eyebrow raised in surprise. Interesting. Easily sidestepping the kunai, Kakashi saw Sakura leap from the trees, dashing towards him.

Great. Doesn't Iruka teach his students not to rush into situations like this? Kakashi sighed behind his book, amusedly noticing that Sakura was very angry.

"I'll forgive forgive your implication that I'm a coward. I'll even forgive your sexist comments," Sakura yelled as she quickly closed the distance to her sensei, "But stop calling me Pinky!"

Sakura whipped off another kunai, aiming straight for Kakashi's head, which ever so slowly swayed to the side, dodging the lethal projectile. Grunting in frustration, Sakura started employing her taijutsu, which was choppy at best. Finally, panting and heaving, Sakura jumped back, taking a breather. Her sudden bout of anger gone, Sakura finally realized that she was in way over her head.

Without looking up from his book, Kakashi briefly mumbled, "Ooh, my favorite scene. Oh, hiya Pinky," Kakashi said, as if noticing Sakura for the first time.

A white fury raging through her veins, Sakura suddenly gave a savage battle cry and rushed at Kakashi, cocking her fist back. Without even thinking about it, she jumped in the air and punched straight down at Kakashi… who easily jumped out of the way.

As Sakura's fist connected with the ground, a mini-explosion burst from the point of contact, leaving huge cracks in the ground. Kakashi sweat-dropped as he felt a slight tremor in the ground. _That would've probably hurt. The last time I saw something like that was Tsunade._

Far in the distance, Naruto and Sasuke looked in awe as Sakura demolished the area with her fist.

Giving another growl, Sakura rushed again at Kakashi. A yard away, Sakura drew back her foot, looking like a star soccer player. Time stood still as Naruto and Sasuke looked on in horror. Sakura's foot shot forward, connecting with Kakashi's groin. Naruto and Sasuke cringed, their hands instinctively sliding down to protect their manhood.

Then time suddenly unfroze, and Kakashi suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke, a shattered and splintered log taking his place. _That could've been Kakashi-sensei!_ Naruto thought, shocked at Sakura's display of strength.

Sasuke sweat-dropped as well. _I'll never consider Sakura a fangirl after this,_ He thought. _More like half a fangirl._

Meanwhile, Kakashi, hiding in the nearby tree line, also grimaced. _Maybe I _should_ stop calling her Pinky,_ he thought.

"Where'd you go, sensei?" Sakura yelled out her challenge. Kakashi decided that it was time to end this part of the fight.

"Taijutsu: Lesson one. You shouldn't let your opponent get behind you, Sakura." Sakura jumped in fright, trying to spin around to hit her sensei, but Kakashi was faster. Kakashi shot his right hand forward, placing a finger on Sakura's forehead, and promptly burst into leaves. Or that's what it looked like to Sakura at least. Naruto and Sasuke looked on as Sakura stood stock still, then suddenly fainted with a scream. They could guess what their sensei had shown her.

Kakashi shook his head. He was hoping that Sakura wouldn't fall for such a simple genjutsu, but oh well. "And that was lesson two. Genjutsu."

_Genjutsu,_ both boys thought from their hiding spots in the trees. _This could be dangerous_, thought Naruto, who was just about to rush in himself. _This could be interesting,_ thought Sasuke, who also had thoughts about rushing in.

Throwing caution to the wind, both boys burst from their hiding places in the trees, intent on taking down their sensei. Both boys made eye contact, and momentarily paused in surprise. Then, glaring, they both rushed Kakashi again, all the more intent on being the first to get a bell.

Kakashi, barely glancing up from his book, gave another sigh. These genin were just like everybody else. Then, Naruto put on a burst of speed, pulling ahead of Sasuke. Launching forward, Naruto gave a straight punch at Kakashi's head. The jonin easily ducked, letting Naruto sail past, only to be met with Sasuke's foot. Fast as lightning, Kakashi's hand came up and blocked Sasuke's kick.

But as Kakashi's back was turned, Naruto flipped in the air to land on his feet and in a split second, whipped a kunai right at Kakashi's back. Kakashi twisted his arm, quickly throwing Sasuke away, and jumped to the right to dodge Naruto's kunai. He was forced to dodge again, as Sasuke threw a kunai as well, hoping to catch his sensei of guard. Jumping back, Kakashi's instincts pricked up again, and he threw himself to the ground.

The air whistled above him as Naruto's leg swept past the space where his head had been seconds prior. Naruto gave a short growl of frustration, before punching down at Kakashi's exposed back. Quick as lightning, Kakashi dropped the book in his hand and turned on the balls of his feet, raising his left arm to deflect Naruto's punch. At the same time, the jonin stood up, striking with an upturned right fist.

The breath left Naruto's lungs in a whoosh and he was sent careening backwards. Kakashi huffed in slight annoyance that the boys had managed to make him drop his book, but as he bent down to retrieve it, he sensed Sasuke nearly on top of him. Rolling into his motion, Kakashi picked up his Icha Icha book and deposited it neatly into his ninja gear pouch.

In the same instant, Sasuke had launched himself forward, hoping to catch his sensei off guard. Armed with a kunai, Sasuke tried for several lightning lunges. Kakashi rolled back onto his feet, swaying backwards, dodging the first few strikes. Then, like a striking snake, Kakashi's hand shot forward, catching Sasuke's wrist in mid-lunge.

Without thinking about it, Sasuke dropped his kunai, letting it fall into his right hand, poised for an upward slash. Seeing the movement, Kakashi moved accordingly.

Deflecting with the metal plate on his glove, Kakashi twisted. But Sasuke had predicted the motion and spun upside down and kicked at Kakashi's head, using Kakashi's grab as leverage against him. At the same time Sasuke dropped his kunai and reached for a bell. Kakashi's eyes widened as he blocked with his free arm. This kid…

Realizing he needed some space, Kakashi kicked Sasuke hard in the stomach just as the boy's finger glanced across a bell. Sasuke shot away, skidding and rolling along the ground straight into Naruto.

Naruto, who was just getting up from Kakashi's blow, tried to get out of the way, but too slowly. Sasuke bowled right into Naruto, both falling on the ground in a heap.

"Get offa me, Uchiha! I've got a fight to finish!" Naruto growled, pushing Sasuke's body off of him.

"Right," Sasuke wheezed into the ground. "Like you're doing any better than I am, Namikaze!"

Naruto growled in reply. "I'll end it after this!" Turning to Kakashi, Naruto formed the tiger seal. From across the clearing, Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He had seen this once before. It had been quite deadly then. Who knew what it would be like getting hit by that now.

"Fireball jutsu!" Jumping high in the sky, Kakashi dodged the giant projectile. _That's the real thing. I'm still surprised that he can perform that jutsu. Or maybe I shouldn't be._

Then Kakashi's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as another fireball flew towards him. Good pseudo teamwork, but it wouldn't be enough. "Perhaps it's time to go onto lesson three. Ninjutsu! Water bullet jutsu!"

A similar sized ball of water shot from Kakashi's mouth, intercepting the second fireball. The air hissed as the two jutsu canceled each other out. Safe and in the clear, Kakashi dropped to the ground. Then Naruto was suddenly behind him, locking his arms in place. "When did–"

"Don't let your opponent get behind you!" Naruto chuckled, as he struggled to reach for a bell. Kakashi wasn't making it easy, though.

"Fireball jutsu!" Kakashi and Naruto looked on in shock as a huge fireball arced their way. Naruto held grimly on, holding his sensei in place, while the jonin struggled briefly, trying to dodge the fireball. At the last moment, the thing exploded in their faces. In the ensuing cloud of ash, Kakashi flew out of the debris, closely followed by a coughing Naruto.

"Uchiha! What the heck?! Were you trying to kill me?!" Naruto coughed out.

Sasuke only glared. "You shouldn't be in the way next time, Namikaze."

Naruto's angers suddenly burst forth from behind the dam. "Alright, Uchiha! You've wanted a fight ever since Mizuki, like you're trying to prove you're better than me. Well why don't you eat this!" Without warning, Naruto's fist swung straight at Sasuke's jaw, causing the raven-haired boy to fall back to the ground.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke coiled his muscles. "You wanna fight, let's fight." Springing up, Sasuke shot both legs forward, catching Naruto square in the chest. Falling onto his back, Sasuke flipped up, just in time to raise his arms to block Naruto's punch. Both boys jumped back, before giving a hoarse yell and charging at the other.

Kakashi looked on, slightly amused, and slightly alarmed. _Maybe I should let this play out_. Cocking back his fist, each boy swung with the weight of their self-imposed loneliness. Blocking with their other hands, both boys were at a stalemate, struggling, fist against palm, their very beings locked in combat.

Suddenly, it was over as Sasuke quickly released Naruto's fist and reached behind the blonde, stealing one of Naruto's shuriken. Jumping back, Sasuke flung the deadly projectiles at Naruto, who took out a kunai and deflected. Naruto realized that Sasuke really was putting just about everything into this fight. Fine then.

Naruto rushed at Sasuke, this time going in for a low sweep. Sasuke jumped, and while he was in the air, Naruto snapped off his kunai. Sasuke easily dodged, but was unprepared for the kick that sent him flying into the air. "Fireball jutsu!" Naruto called out.

Sakura dashed to the edge of the tree line. She was embarrassed that Kakashi-sensei had taken her out with such a simple genjutsu. Of course, Sasuke would never die like that! _I've gotta be more careful, if I wanna be on the same team as Sasuke! I have to get a bell!_

"Fireball jutsu!" Sakura was startled to hear Naruto's voice. Peering through the leaves, Sakura was shocked to see a huge fireball shooting towards Sasuke, who was floating in the air.

Sakura gasped in horror as the fireball exploded, obscuring Sasuke from her vision. "Sasuke-kun!" She yelled out. Suddenly, out of the smoke, another fireball raced down towards Naruto, who was standing on the ground.

_What? Sasuke is trying to hit Naruto? And was the fireball Naruto's. What's going on? Are they fighting?_ Sakura thought in a rush.

Naruto jumped back as the jutsu smashed into ground he was just standing on. Then a blur appeared behind Naruto, but Naruto was just as fast. Whirling around, Naruto raised a hand and caught the foot aimed at his head, before blocking another kick with his other arm. Back flipping away, Naruto threw Sasuke away. Naruto landed in a ready stance, raising his arms none to soon, as suddenly, Sasuke was on him. The punches were hard and fast.

Eventually, it got the point where neither boy cared about their own injuries, only hurting the other. Fists were flying at the head, jaw, stomach, chest. Neither boy was giving an inch, locked in a painful stalemate.

Sakura looked on in horror as the her two possible teammates pounded on each other. She could see their punches getting sloppier, their faces getting more bruised. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the boys were swinging at nothing but air, the area around their eyes so swollen, that neither could clearly see anymore.

Both boys then took a major swing at the other, hitting nothing but air. The force of their blow spun each around, where they collapsed against the other, back to back. They kept swinging in front of them, not realizing for a while that they were leaning back to back.

They should be almost done, Kakashi thought from the tree he was sitting under. He then glanced up at the sun. _Hmm, it's past noon already. Well, since it seems like they're having such a great heart to heart, I'll let them wrap this up._

"Come on, Uchiha!" Naruto groaned out wearily. "I've still got fight in me!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted painfully. "It's obvious who won here, Namikaze."

"Don't call me that!" Naruto tried to yell, his voice coming out more as a croak. "I hate it when you call me that!"

Sasuke took a moment to breath before replying. "Isn't that who you are? Naruto Namikaze?"

A pause. "Yeah, but when you say it, you say it like it makes me a different person!" Both boys eventually slumped down to the ground, sitting back to back, too tired to continue fighting.

"I… I don't mean it like that," Sasuke offered tentatively. Both boys were bone weary, and the emotional walls they had placed between themselves were coming undone.

"Yes you do, Sasuke, and don't even try to deny it." Naruto felt tears rising to his eyes, but he pushed those away. Sasuke didn't hit that hard.

Sasuke paused a moment. "Ok, so maybe I do mean it like that, but that's because you did become somebody else. You abandoned me!"

"How?!" Naruto yelled in reply, his anger rising quickly.

"Your new friends!" Sasuke spat out. "Look at them! They try not to even look at me, much less talk to me, and what do you do? Nothing! Friends don't do that to friends, and that's what I thought we were." Sasuke made to rise, but his anger left him in a rush, leaving him even more tired than before.

Naruto was quiet. A part of him realized that Sasuke was right. He had been a jerk. But that was because… "But that was because of you," Naruto replied.

"How was that because of me?" Sasuke growled back.

"Because you said we weren't brothers."

Sasuke suddenly went still.

"That day, you said that revenge was personal. A family matter. I thought I was family, but then you said I wasn't an Uchiha." Naruto paused, the emotion welling in his chest. He could feel it was the same for Sasuke.

"I thought that if after everything we'd been through, that we weren't brothers… I don't know… I just felt betrayed." Naruto waited for Sasuke's reply, and when one wasn't forthcoming, he sighed.

Sasuke sat in silence for a while. It wasn't true. He didn't want Naruto to say that. _But I don't want to apologize_. _He's done some pretty bad stuff to me too._ As Sasuke struggled with his pride, Naruto felt that Sasuke really thought nothing of their bond.

He was just about to get up, when Sasuke began to speak. "Naruto, I'm sorry."

"What?" Naruto said, shocked. In all the years he'd known Sasuke, his friend had never ever said I'm sorry.

"I said…" Sasuke sounded like he was biting out his words. "I'm sorry. I was wrong to say that."

Naruto paused. Wonders never cease. "I was angry… so angry," Sasuke continued, the emotions of that night springing up in him again. "You have no idea how much I hated Mizuki, Shisui, and that assassin. They murdered our entire family, and… I just let control me. And then, when they announced that you were the son of the Fourth Hokage, I hated you."

Naruto was shocked. "You… You hate me?"

"I hated you for your name, a big name. It made you suddenly so popular in the village, while I was still an outcast. And then I thought that you had abandoned me, and I hated you for it."

"I never wanted their attention!" Naruto protested.

"But you soaked it up either way!" Sasuke yelled in reply.

Naruto was silent. That was true. Naruto waited a while before he too started talking. "Sasuke, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I never meant to do that to you. It was just that when you said… when you said that, I thought that was how you really felt, so I reacted. I was just stupid enough to keep it going."

Sasuke sensed that Naruto's apology was genuine, and for the first time in a long time, he smiled. It felt like a huge burden, a terrible blackness had been lifted from his heart. "Dobe."

On Sasuke's other side, Naruto grinned lopsidedly. "Teme."

A shadow then fell over the two boys, bruised and battered from their intense fight, but grinning happily at their reconciliation.

"Well, that fight was impressive," Kakashi said, his eye crinkling. _Especially since they're both wearing weights._ "And I'm glad you two made up, but since noon passed half an hour ago, I'm afraid that all three of you fail."

Sakura burst out of the trees just as Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet. "WHAT?!" They cried in unison.


	13. Chapter 13: Are we Genin?

**Chapter 13**: Are We… Genin?

* * *

><p>"There, nice and tight!" Kakashi said, smiling pleasantly.<p>

"Come on, sensei! Why are we all here?" Naruto groaned, feeling slight hunger pangs.

"I did say that anybody who didn't get a bell wouldn't be getting lunch, didn't I. Do I see a bell on any of you?" Kakashi paused, letting Naruto's simmering gaze boil over. "I didn't think so."

"So we all fail, then?" Sasuke asked calmly, a deadly tone residing beneath his voice.

"Actually, no," Kakashi said. "I was pleasantly surprised by you all. I hadn't explicitly said you could use deadly force, but all three of you realized that it would be necessary to even get close to defeating me. Or at least, you two did," Kakashi said, pointing to the boys. "Pinky here may have been too angry to notice that her blows were getting fairly lethal."

Sakura's eyes flashed dangerously again at hearing that hated nickname.

"So what can I say?" Kakashi adopted an air of nonchalance. "I think I'm beginning to like you guys, so I'm going to give you one more chance."

All three perked up at that news.

"But there will only be one bell."

All three's eyes shot wide open in shock as they registered Kakashi's implication.

"Only one'll pass?" Sakura stammered out.

"You got it! And that's the best case scenario." Kakashi eye smiled. "Oh, and as promised, here is your lunch." Kakashi placed a single box lunch tantalizingly close to the genin, but agonizingly out of reach. "Enjoy! You have a half hour before we begin again. The first one out gets the food. No sharing." Kakashi then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi stayed back a long ways, watching carefully. He hadn't made his usual speech about teamwork, but he had faith in this team. He hoped it wasn't misplaced.

This was the pits. Naruto grumbled as he, Sasuke, and even Sakura were all tied up to the posts. The worst part was that their food was just out of their reach. No matter how Naruto strained, he just fell short of the tantalizing morsels.

"KAKASHI-SENSEEEIIII! CURSE YOOOOUUUU!" Naruto howled out, his stomach growling incessantly in agreement. "I need to eat!"

"Would you shut up, dobe. You're a migraine," Sasuke snapped, slumping dejectedly against his ropes.

"Isn't it, 'You're giving me a migraine,' Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, still very interested about the curious change in Naruto and Sasuke's relationship.

"No. The dobe's so annoying that he really is a migraine."

"Shut up, teme! It's your fault we're in this mess!" Naruto accused hungrily.

"My fault! You're the one who got in my way!" Sasuke shot back.

"_Your_ way?! Who fell all over me right at the very end, huh?!"

"Like I said, in my way! You should've gotten up faster!"

Sakura began to shrink more and more as the yelling intensified. "Um… guys… Naruto, Sasuke-kun?"

Neither boy was paying much attention now though.

"Guys?"

"Now look! We might never become genin!" Naruto yelled.

"And whose fault is that?!" Sasuke retorted.

"SHUT UP!" Sakura roared out, finally having enough.

The two boys immediately shut up out of surprise. Now that they had quieted down, though, Sakura was suddenly shy. "Um… Stop? Please?"

Both boys stared at Sakura, who was bound in the middle. Finally, Naruto burst out laughing. "Hey, teme! Let's figure out how to get lunch, then get the bell."

Sakura was suddenly confused, though. "Wait, didn't you hear Kakashi-sensei? There's only one bell. Only one of us will get to pass. And he told us not to share the lunch." Sakura looked dejected, that she wouldn't be able to be on the same team as Sasuke. More confusing was Naruto and Sasuke's behavior towards each other. They were still yelling at each other, but it was lacking the animosity that it once held. Sakura remembered back to the early years of Academy, when Naruto and Sasuke were close. It felt like that again. It made her happy.

Sasuke only shrugged. "Well, first, we've got to get out, get lunch, and get the bell, right? Besides, Kakashi-sensei's just as strong as nii-san. And I've never beaten nii-san. So Naruto and I'll have to team up once we're out and when we get a bell, I'll beat the dobe up and claim it for myself."

"But Kakashi-sensei said–" Sakura started before she was cut off.

"Heh, in your dreams, teme." Naruto leaned back, giving Sasuke a cocky grin. "Just watch out for Sakura. She might be the one to take the bell, actually."

Sakura looked at Naruto in surprise. Was that… a compliment? As long as she had known Naruto, the blonde had always been derisive about her, part of the reasons behind her annoyance toward Naruto, who had always muttered something about fangirls under his breath whenever she was near.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "You could be right."

Sakura's head turned so quickly toward Sasuke, that one would have been afraid she had whiplash. Had Sasuke-kun now just complimented her? Sakura was squealing on the inside, a blush already growing on her face, her eyes already sparkling. _Sha! Beat that, Ino-pig!_ Inner Sakura exclaimed. In fact, no other girl could ever claim to have been complimented by Sasuke-kun!

"Hahaha! I think you broke her, Sasuke!" Naruto joked.

Sasuke only raised an eyebrow at Sakura, who, as if realizing that she was just about to go completely gaga reined in her blush and stammered out, "N-n-no, NO! I mean, I'm alright!" Sakura gasped out, trying to stop thinking about wedding bells. "Just surprised is all."

Naruto smirked. "Alright, well, let's get out of here. I'm starving."

"Can any of you use jutsu?" Sasuke asked, trying to pull his hands together to form seals. In vain, as the ropes were too tight.

Both Sakura and Naruto struggled before giving up.

"Guys, I really don't think we should be going against Kakashi-sensei's orders," Sakura stated, looking around nervously.

Ignoring Sakura's protest, Naruto said to Sasuke, "Okay, how about kunai, or anything sharp?" Then addressing Sakura, "Don't worry about Kakashi-sensei. I don't see him, and he's probably in town grabbing lunch or something, lazy bum."

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded. "You shouldn't talk about sensei like that!"

"Doesn't make it less true," Sasuke said as he tried to reach for his kunai holster, dismayed to find it empty. "Sorry, Naruto. I used them all when we were fighting Kakashi."

"Yeah, same," Naruto sighed.

Then Sakura noticed that Naruto had two kunai holsters, one that looked quite new, in fact. "Wait, Naruto, did you use both kunai holsters in the fight?"

Naruto suddenly perked up. "Actually, no! One of them is new, so I totally forgot that I had it!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Reaching for his kunai, the blonde was just able to open the holster. Reaching in with his fingertips, Naruto felt the cool metal of his kunai. "Alright, here… we… go– Crap!" Naruto cursed as his fingers fumbled and dropped the kunai.

"Wait! This is great, Naruto," Sasuke interjected. "Remember when Tou-san taught us about chakra control?" Naruto slowly nodded, the idea becoming clearer to him. "Well, you can use your foot to channel chakra, and launch that kunai at my ropes."

"You're a genius, Sasuke!" To Sakura's confusion, Naruto closed his eyes and appeared to fall into meditation.

"He's just focusing his chakra," Sasuke said helpfully, to which Sakura was still confused, having never been taught about the multi-faceted uses of channeling chakra.

Focusing, Naruto drew chakra into his foot and moved it over the kunai. Like a magnet, the kunai sprung up to the bottom of his foot. Now here was the dangerous part. Opening his eyes briefly to sight the target, Naruto then closed them again, focusing. Suddenly, Naruto shot his foot forward, using chakra to repel the kunai away from him. The blade sailed through the air, straight at Sasuke… biting through the ropes with ease.

Sasuke breathed an internal sigh of relief, as chakra control had always been Naruto's worst exercise. Wriggling out of the partially severed ropes, Sasuke picked up the kunai and moved towards the food.

"All mine," He said deviously, to which Naruto started straining against his ropes like a madbeast.

"You teme! You better not eat all of that, you fat baboon!" Naruto raved.

Sasuke only smirked. "Ouch, Naruto. Your words are so cruel. I think I'll untie Sakura first," The Uchiha said, moving over to Sakura's post smugly.

"Wait, Sasuke-kun," Sakura suddenly said, looking around quite nervously. "I feel like Kakashi-sensei is watching us! Maybe you shouldn't untie me!"

Sasuke just ignored the girl and just slashed the kunai across the rope while Naruto just laughed. "So what if he's watching? What's he gonna do? Fail us? We'd probably fail anyways," The blonde pointed out.

"We need the bell, and without each other, we won't get it," Sasuke said simply. "For that, I need everybody strong and ready."

"Oh, _you_ need, huh?" Naruto mocked. "You think you're the only who wants to pass?"

Sasuke just grunted. "Hn. Shut up, dobe."

Naruto stuck his tongue out, "Teme!"

But as soon as Sasuke had severed Sakura's ropes, the world violently explode all around them. Wind lashed the air around them, and sand and dirt flew up into the sky, the very air crackling and resounding with thunderous energy, bearing down on the three genin.

"What the heck?!" Naruto yelled, shutting his eyes against the maelstrom.

Kakashi suddenly appeared, his eyes burning with white hot death. Naruto flinched backwards in fear. "YOU!" The small storm continued to whip around them.

As the dust cleared, all three genin saw Kakashi standing there, simply smiling. "Pass. Congratulations!"

Silence.

"What?" Naruto asked, blinking confusedly.

"You pass," Kakashi said once again.

"How? Why? Sasuke released me! And we were going to team up against you." Sakura asked, voicing the thought in all three now genin's heads.

"Exactly, though. Even when I had raised the stakes for you all and implicitly ordered you not to work as a team, you still decided to go for it." Kakashi glanced at each one, "Some for… different reasons than others, and some more reluctantly, but you three seem to understand teamwork on fundamental level, at least."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto shouted, still bound to the post. "Who's good?! We passed!"

"I want to show you guys something," Kakashi said in a more subdued voice. "See this memorial?" All three genin turned to see a nearby structure.

"All the names of every ninja that has fallen in battle for Konoha is etched on that stone." Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were all wide eyed.

"Too many of my friends are on this stone," Kakashi said gravely. "This is why your team takes precedent. Sometimes, you're placed in impossible situations like the one I gave you today. A situation where one of you has to die. You have to trust your team."

The three young genin were silent as they saw a side to their sensei that they hadn't known could exist.

"I live by this mantra. A shinobi who violates the rules is trash."

Naruto was confused. They had broken Kakashi's rules about teamwork.

"But those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash!" The conviction behind the man's words were like a physical force, compelling Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

Then it was gone. "So again, I'm proud of you three for tossing my rules out the window and sticking by each other. Sometimes, that's all you're going to have."

Taking a moment to ponder the matter, Sasuke was the first to speak up. "So we were going to pass whether we got the bells or not? As long as we worked as a team?" Sasuke asked somewhat incredulously.

"Well, you're good, but not nearly strong enough to get the bells from me."

Sasuke stiffened a bit. "Has any genin team ever taken the bells?"

Kakashi thought back to his own genin team. They too had failed. Finally, the masked shinobi replied, "Nope. The last team to accomplish that later became known as the Sannin. So don't feel bad if you didn't get the bells."

Sasuke simmered quietly, while Sakura simply looked grateful, if not a little stunned that she had passed. "So… we're genin?"

"Yup. How many times do I need to say it?" Kakashi eye-smiled. "You passed. Let's celebrate with some ramen."

"Alright!" Naruto shouted, accidentally slamming his head back against the post. "Can somebody get me out of here?"

Naruto was surprised to see that Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura were all practically specks as they left the training ground.

"What?! You guys are leaving me?! Seriously?! Get back over here!" Naruto yelled furiously, thrashing around animatedly. "You can't leave me here if you guys are going to get ramen!"

Naruto started crying a waterfall of tears as he found himself utterly alone. "KAKASHI-SENSEI! SASUKE! SAKURA! NNNNNOOOOOOO!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey ya'll. I almost, very almost abandoned this story again. But I started writing this chapter and had a little fun with it. It's slightly modified from canon, since I really don't remember any of the dialogue. It's short, but kinda keeping the story alive for the most part. Review and tell me what you guys think.


	14. Chapter 14: Geninhood

**Chapter 14**: Genin

* * *

><p>Naruto was bored, bored, bored. Who knew that Itachi had been so right regarding genin missions? D-Ranks and E-Ranks everyday? Not only were the missions stupid, like picking up trash, watching paint dry, and mowing lawns, but the pay was abysmal. It was only a couple of ryo above minimum wage. For ninja? Come on!<p>

Kakashi-sensei had just dismissed them for the day, lazy bum. Naruto kicked a stone in his path, rubbing the cuts and scratches all over his arms and face. They were feeling a lot better since that morning, when they had to hunt down that stupid cat, Tora. What had been even worse was Oji-san's smug smile. Sure, Naruto and Sasuke _had_ released Tora on the village more than once, piling more paperwork on the Old Man's desk than he knew what to do with, but still…

Of course, though, as a natural prankster, Naruto understood the idea of karma and embraced the fact that he and Sasuke had probably deserved to be on the receiving end of Tora at least once. _But only once!_ Naruto told himself. Then he remembered the Hokage's mournful expression at the paperwork resulting from the damages incurred during the chase, and suddenly the day seemed to pick up immensely. Also, the sight of the Daimyo's wife smothering the cat into submission – now _that_ was justice.

"Hey, dobe!" Called a voice from behind. Irritated, Naruto turned suddenly, noticing the looks people were shooting him at the somewhat insulting greeting. Naruto wondered when he had become used to the respectful looks that had once been looks of disgust.

"Teme! What do you want?" Naruto returned rather curtly.

"Heh." Sasuke smirked, noticing Naruto's annoyance and reveling in it, even. "I was wondering if you wanted to do some training together? These D-Ranks are making me soft," Sasuke said, continuing to walk.

"Sure." Naruto said nonchalantly, falling into pace beside Sasuke, slightly surprised that he wasn't surprised at the casual offer to hang out. Water under the bridge, as people say.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea occurred to Naruto. "Actually, you know what'd be fun to do? We could pull some pranks! Chasing Tora all over the village is making me nostalgic."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, as if to ask how Naruto knew such a big word. "I'd rather train," Was the blunt reply.

"You're no fun, you know that?" Naruto said irritably. After all those simple missions, he needed an outlet for his frustration. His poor victims…

Sasuke just stared impassively, maintaining the cool exterior the village had come to associate with him.

"Fine, it could be kinda like training!" Naruto said. "Instead of hitting individual targets, we can hit the clan houses or something."

Sasuke could see that Naruto was dead set on pulling a prank, multiple pranks actually. To be honest, he was beginning to itch for some action too. Itachi had warned them about D-Ranks, but experiencing them was even worse than the stories. Sasuke was just about to agree – reluctantly – until he realized what building they were now in front of. The Hospital.

Naruto too noticed the sudden change in Sasuke's train of thought as he too began to think of Itachi. Suddenly, pranking didn't seem like such a good idea. "You know, Ayame-nee-chan's been asking about nii-san. I haven't seen him in a while." Naruto winced at how awkward that sounded.

"I guess we should visit," Sasuke said after a pause. He looked at Naruto in the eyes. "I mean, we haven't visited together ever, I think."

Both boys realized with a guilty pang that this was indeed true. "Well, let's change that," Naruto said, heading towards the double doors, Sasuke right next to him.

Both boys signed in and made their way to Itachi's room automatically, having memorized the way to their older brother's room by heart. They slowly entered, finding the room empty except for the lone occupant in the bed, the heartbeat monitor beeping steadily in the room.

Blue eyes met dark eyes, and a silent agreement was made. Both boys made their way to the guest table in the room, each taking a seat. They were silent for a long while. Naruto cleared his throat, then fell silent, his words dying in his throat.

Sasuke cleared his throat, then he too fell silent, not really knowing what to say.

"Hi, nii-san–" They suddenly said at the same time. Looking at each other in surprise at the sudden noise, they grinned at each other, or in Sasuke's case, smirked.

"I'm finally here with Sasuke-teme," Naruto said, turning back to Itachi. "Guess there's a lot to catch up on…"

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered under his breath, not unhappily though. As Naruto began talking about everything that had happened to them since _that_ day, Sasuke felt a sense of completeness that he hadn't felt in a while. He was reunited, in a sense, with his brother. A brother from another mother, he thought amusedly to himself.

Looking at Itachi's peaceful face, Sasuke mused that the only hole in his heart was the one Itachi had occupied. In order to fill it fully, they had to heal Itachi, wake him up from his coma. _I'll find a way to help you, nii-san_, Sasuke thought determinedly. Then he looked at Naruto's animated face as he described his prank on the Hokage's monument. _Both of us will._

IIIIII

After another two weeks of nothing but D-Ranks, Team 7 was getting restless. Naruto was at least, and it was getting on the Hokage's nerves. As the team headed up to the Hokage's office, Naruto prepared his outburst. He was going to get a C-Rank today, if it was the last thing he did!

"Hey, Oji-san!" Naruto yelled over-loudly as he barged through the door. The blonde stopped short as he saw two other teams in the office. It was Kiba, Hinata, and Shino's team and Shkamaru, Choji, and Ino's team. The teams and their jonin senseis were all looking at Naruto in annoyance. Naruto could even hear the sighs of his own team behind him. regardless, he pushed on. "We want harder missions! D-Ranks are too easy!"

"Naruto! Stop nagging the Hokage!" Iruka yelled out, red flushing his annoyed expression. "A ninja has to learn to accept the mission he or she is given!" His anger only flared even more at Naruto's flippant dismissal of his words. The nerve of the brat… It was good to be able to yell at Naruto, though, now that the brat had graduated.

"Blow off, Naruto! We were here first!" Kiba retorted. "If any team's gonna get a C-Rank, it's ours!"

"Oh yeah, doggy-breath?! I could take you and all your team at once! We're the ones who deserve a C-Rank!" Naruto exclaimed. Kurenai raised an eyebrow as her student and Kakashi's student began to bicker and argue right in each other's faces. She looked over at Kakashi. _This_ was the team that Kakashi had passed?

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. Everybody was thinking much the same thing as they sighed at the two loudmouths' antics, Iruka took a calming breath and managed to turn to Kakashi. "Kakashi, mission successful, I presume?"

"Indeed, Iruka, Hokage-sama. Here's the report."

Hiruzen skimmed over it before quickly tossing away the offending pieces of paper. "Alright. It seems that every team here wants to take a C-Rank. Is that correct?" All of the genin, save Shikamaru, Shino, and Sasuke nodded eagerly. Those three were simply too cool for words. Or too lazy. The Hokage looked to the jonin with a questioning look.

"Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma?" Kakashi's nod resembled more a shrug, while Kurenai gave stronger affirmation. Asuma almost seemed to reluctantly give his approval with a sigh. This caused the Hokage to sigh in frustration.

"Ok. I have here two C-Ranks–"

"We'll take it!" Naruto yelled.

"No way! We'll take it!" Kiba yelled even more loudly, before receiving a withering glare from his sensei.

"Quiet!" Iruka yelled. "The Hokage's still speaking!"

Hiruzen chuckled a bit before taking a slow puff of his pipe. "Thank you, Iruka. As I was saying, since Kurenai's team was the first to request a C-Rank, they will receive this one."

"What?! Are you kidding me?" Naruto yelled incredulously while Kiba whooped in victory. Naruto was livid, Sasuke scowled, while Sakura looked disappointed. Kakashi's head remained buried in his little orange book.

"Kurenai, here is your mission brief," The Hokage said, gesturing Iruka to give the scroll to Kurenai. Kiba whooped as he left the room, smirking widely at Naruto's scowling face. Hinata followed him timidly as Shino remained as impassive as ever.

"Now, I have one more C-Rank."

Naruto immediately whipped his head towards Shikamaru. The lazy bum looked like he was about to fall asleep. Choji was still munching on his chips happily. Ino, though, looked extremely fired up. Naruto glanced at his teammates. Sasuke looked disinterested as ever, but Naruto knew that he was also getting restless. Sakura tried to hide it for the sake of being polite, but she really wanted a C-Rank too. In terms of wanting it more, Naruto knew that Team 7 wanted it more.

"And, since our client is actually here, why don't we let him choose," The Sandaime offered, unwilling to become the victim of another of Naruto's pranks. "Send for Tazuna-san."

As the doors to the office opened, every eye swiveled to the client. He was an old man drinking from a bottle, a towel around his neck, a wide hat covering his head and shoulders from the sun.

"Ah! Tazuna-san. One of these teams here is available for your mission. You may choose which one you'd like to accompany you," The Hokage said amiably. Iruka raised an eyebrow at the Hokage's tactic at pitting the two teams against each other. It was better than focusing Naruto's pranks towards the office, that was for sure.

"Eh?" Tazuna grunted out. "These are the teams? They're kids!"

"And we're strong enough to take care of your problem, old man! Believe it!" Naruto yelled suddenly, causing Tazuna to wince at the volume.

"What a brat! You're so loud!" He exclaimed, causing Naruto to glare at the man. Before Naruto could say anything in reply, Sakura furiously slapped her hand over Naruto's mouth and put the boy in a chokehold. "Shut up! Before you ruin all our chances!" She hissed at the blonde, before smiling sweetly at Tazuna. Sasuke only looked on amusedly as Naruto flailed against Sakura's strength.

Tazuna turned to Asuma. "Are you sure that you guys are gonna be able to protect me?"

Asume took another puff of his cigarette. "You bet. My team may not look like much, but they're great at working together. Plus, I'm a jonin, so anything they can't handle, I can definitely take care of. You're more than safe with us."

Tazuna looked thoughtful and then turned towards the other team. He looked at Kakashi who was reading _Icha Icha_, infamous books. Naruto tugged at Kakashi's sleeve while still being restrained by Sakura. "Kakashi-sensei! Tell him! Tell him how strong we are!" Naruto pleaded, but Kakashi didn't even look up from his book.

"Eh? What was that, Naruto?" The masked man said absentmindedly.

"You masked pervert!" Naruto yelled before being punched again by an irate Sakura.

Tazuna sweatdropped before turning back to Asuma. "Alright, you guys've got the job." Asuma chuckled as he grabbed the mission briefing. He turned to Kakashi, who was still absorbed in his reading. He knew better though. The man was observing everything going on around him intently. He shook his head, looking at his friend's team. He too had been surprised when Kakashi stated that his team passed. This year apparently, was different from the other years, even if Asuma didn't really see how that was a good thing. That Naruto Namikaze wasn't anything like he had expected.

As Shikamaru walked out of the office, he sighed. "What a drag…" Choji said nothing, but continued to munch on his chips. Ino though, looked triumphant. "Ha! Take that Forehead!"

Sakura immediately became fired up and let go of Naruto. "Whatever, Ino-pig! You just got lucky that nobody on your team's as loud as Naruto!"

"Sakura!" Naruto whined. "What are you talking about? Ino's even louder than me!"

Ino was incensed. "Me?! Louder than you?! Who are you deluding?! You're like a foghorn!" She yelled.

"Whatever blondie!" Naruto replied flippantly. "Why don't you finish your C-Rank while we take a B-Rank!"

"Who are you calling blondie?!" Ino exclaimed. "You're blonde too!"

Naruto just stuck out his tongue. "I'm a guy blonde, so that makes me smarter than you cause you're a girl blonde!"

Ino was speechless. "You, you… blondie!" She shouted, to which Naruto smirked. "Can't come up with anything better, huh Princess? Shoo shoo," Naruto waved his hands dismissively.

Ino just stood there, mouth agape, about to unleash hell on Naruto until Asuma popped back in and dragged her out. "Come on, Ino. We've got a mission to take care of." Naruto could hear Shikamaru just outside the door. "Troublesome."

"Come on, Gramps!" Naruto complained, wheeling back onto the Hokage. "We definitely wanted that mission more than those guys did!"

The Sandaime raised his hands placatingly. "Sorry, Naruto, but it was Tazuna-san's decision, after all. But don't worry, I'll have a C-Rank for you the next time you come in. I promise. In the mean time, why don't you take another D-Rank."

Kakashi though knew the reason. The Sandaime worried for Naruto's safety, and didn't want to allow the young genin to leave the village just yet. Kakashi's eye crinkled upwards again. "Of course. Thank you, Hokage-sama. And we understand, don't we?" Kakashi asked his students, adding in a bit of menace to make sure his students remained polite.

Naruto gulped before nodding reluctantly. "Fine. Let's just get going," He grumbled before stomping out of the office, followed by Sasuke, scowling deeply, and Sakura, angry at Ino for getting a C-Rank before her.

Kakashi just smiled at Iruka and the Sandaime. "They've still got to learn patience. We'll be back soon," He said cheerily. Iruka and Hiruzen both shared a glance. _No prank?_ What a relief.

IIIIIII

"Good, that went by faster than usual," Kakashi said pleasantly. "Why don't you guys take a half hour break, and then we'll meet back at the Hokage's office to deliver our report." With that, he left in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke took the time to glare at the wall they had just painted, before he too left the area. Sakura looked around awkwardly and quickly ran after Sasuke. Naruto took the time to glare once more at the drying paint, which he could have sworn was laughing at him. Finally, the blonde snorted in disgust and left, going after his two teammates.

"Hey, guys! Wait up!" Naruto called. "You wanna grab something to eat before we head out? Although you guys _did_ ditch me right after the bell test," Naruto mumbled under his breath.

Sasuke just smirked, having caught the last part. Sakura hesitated. She really wanted to spend some time with Sasuke-kun… alone! But if it meant having Naruto tag along, she guessed she could deal with it for a little bit. He wasn't _that_ bad. Compared to a tsunami at least…

"No." Sasuke bluntly said, eyes straight ahead as he walked to Naruto's apartment. Naruto had finally convinced Sasuke to become his roommate. It saved rent, and it was a nice change of environment, considering that the Uchiha compound… had too much memories.

"Are you sure, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked somewhat hopefully.

"Hn." Translation: Very sure.

Sighing in defeat, Sakura then looked at the sky worriedly. "Kakashi-sensei said a half hour, so I'm going to go home to take a shower. See you guys!" Sakura then ran off quickly, hiding her disappointment.

Naruto stared after her for a bit before turning to Sasuke. "That was cold. Real cold."

Sasuke just shrugged. "She's a fangirl."

Naruto shook his head slightly. "Still, she's our teammate now. You should at least give her one chance."

"Hn." Suddenly, Sasuke thought of something. "I thought you were going to prank the Hokage and Iruka for not giving us a C-Rank. Why didn't you?"

Naruto just grinned. "Lulling 'em into a false sense of security. Makes the next prank that much sweeter when they're completely off guard."

Sasuke just shook his head, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

Naruto gasped loudly. "Did the teme just chuckle?!"

Sasuke's half-smiled, half-scowled at Naruto. "Dobe," Sasuke growled, causing Naruto to laugh. The two walked in silence for a while, ignoring the mixed looks being shot their way by the villagers. Standing together, they realized that they just didn't care anymore. Naruto wasn't going to abandon a friend now, screw what the villager's thought.

The young Uchiha looked at his best friend, who was checking over his gear out of habit.

"My vest looks okay," Naruto said to himself, shrugging around in the light, thin, blue sleeveless vest he had become accustomed to wearing over an orange t-shirt. It was emblazoned with the Uzumaki crest to remind him of his parents.

Naruto checked the twin kunai holsters, strapped to his khaki shorts. They were in good condition.

"We should've gotten that C-Rank," Sasuke said, a slight glower in his tone.

"Yeah," Naruto said, "Did you see Kiba's smirk! I wanted to knock it right off his smug face. And Shikamaru too! He didn't even want the mission! And Ino!"

"Yes, about Ino," Sasuke began deviously. "I hadn't realized that you too had gotten so… close. Calling her princess now?"

"Huh? Well yeah," Naruto said confusedly. "She's a prissy princess."

Sasuke just stared at his friend. "Hn." Translation: You really are a dobe sometimes. And it made Sasuke wonder if there really was anything going on between the two, Naruto seemed so oblivious. Personally, he didn't like the blonde. She seemed too superficial. A social climber.

Seeing that Naruto was still lost, Sasuke nearly palmed his face before asking, "You wanna head to Ichiraku's? You know Kakashi's gonna be at least an hour late."

"Are you really asking me if I wanna go to Ichiraku's? Does the sun rise every morning?" A pleasantly surprised Naruto asked almost rhetorically.

Sasuke smirked in response, but inside, he was thinking about what Naruto had said. Maybe Sakura deserved a chance. Both he and Naruto had taken a chance at reconciliation, and their old fights were finally in the past, where they belonged. The boys then rounded the corner to Ichiraku's.

"Ramen! Let's go!" Naruto cried, rushing ahead, eager to get a bite to eat, Sasuke following behind, shaking his head.

Meanwhile, as Sakura was heading to her house, she ran into her hated rival. "Ino-pig, here to gloat?" Sakura greeted tersely.

"Sakura, I need to talk to you," Ino replied in a hushed tone, drawing apace with Sakura. Ino's voice sounded worried, urgent almost, taking Sakura aback.

"What about?" She asked, curious.

"Sasuke."

Suddenly, Sakura was on guard. Was Ino trying to steal Sasuke away from her? Again? "What about Sasuke?"

"He's dangerous. You should be careful around him. Or better yet, stay away altogether," Ino said in a deathly serious tone.

"Dangerous? Sasuke? He's my teammate," Sakura pointed out skeptically, the tone in Ino's voice truly giving her pause. "You're not trying to steal him from me, are you?" Sakura asked tentatively.

Ino internally scoffed at the idea, suddenly wondering how long Sakura would still cling to the idea. Outside though, she remained serious. Sakura had to know. "No. I'm serious, Sakura. Listen. Remember when we were still in school, midterms?"

Sakura's step faltered. "A-are you… talking about the Uchiha Clan Massacre?"

"Yes," Ino said. "Ever since that night, I've been hearing thing about Sasuke and the Uchiha. Like how they're traitors, and cursed, and how they deserved what happened to them!"

Sakura suddenly turned a baleful glare at Ino. "How can you say those things about Sasuke-kun! He's probably not the most social person, but he's no traitor! He's not cursed, and he _did NOT_ deserve what happened to him!"

Ino looked around anxiously, gesturing at Sakura to keep her voice down. "I'm not saying any of those things, Sakura! But if everybody else is talking about him, it might not be smart to be associated with him!"

Sakura looked shocked at her once friend. "Who are you, Ino? I don't know you anymore."

Ino glared at her friend. "Sakura–"

"No! You once thought the world of Sasuke-kun. Now, it's like you've betrayed him like everybody else in the class–"

"I'm not betraying anybody, Sakura! I've just grown past Sasuke!" The blonde exclaimed. "I'm just telling you that you should be careful around him. I've been hearing things ever since that night."

"No! I've done missions with Sasuke-kun! He's nothing like whatever rumors you've heard. Besides, those rumors are probably why he's so lonely! I mean, Naruto's his only friend!" Sakura retorted, vehemently defending her crush.

Ino just shook her head. "Naruto and Sasuke? Naruto's the son of the Yon–"

"Don't even go there!" Sakura nearly screamed. "You think I'm stupid? I hear the rumors too! But Sasuke and Naruto, they're friends. I know it. Despite the way they act towards each other! And I think Sasuke-kun considers me a friend too," Sakura added quietly.

Ino's eyes narrowed. "Sasuke's the Last Uchiha–"

"Is that what they're calling him now?" Sakura asked coldly. "Well guess what Ino. Sasuke's my friend, and unlike you, I stick by my friends."

Ino's glare turned incredibly intense in anger, before it gave way to one final push. "Sakura, we were once friends, and we broke it off over Sasuke. I've been thinking about how silly that was. I valued our past friendship, and because I _still_ value it, I'm telling you as a friend that you should be careful around Sasuke."

Sakura flipped her hair prissily, to angry to register Ino's heartfelt request. "You just want to stay popular, Ino-pig. You can take your popularity and stuff it. Go do your C-Rank, Ino-pig!" Sakura broke off and walked briskly toward her home, taking the long way around simply to get away from Ino.

The blonde stood in the middle of the road, looking at Sakura's retreating figure. Sakura's final words rang in her head. Sakura was being blinded by her crush for Sasuke, yes, but was she right? _Am I really interested only in my own popularity?_ _That I would really abandon a friend? Am I that shallow?_ Ino, in a rare lack of poise, stomped her way home to pack, stewing on Sakura's words.

Two hours later, Naruto and Sasuke made their way to the Hokage's office, well rested and well fed. As they rounded the corner, they saw Sakura sitting morosely at the bench outside the complex. She didn't say a thing about them being late. Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other. _What happened to Sakura?_

"Yo! Sakura! Did Kakashi-sensei show up yet?" Naruto called out.

Unfortunately for him, suddenly, all of Sakura's frustrated rants and introspective reflections hardened into a mental rocket, sights aimed at one unfortunate blonde. "Naruto! You're late!" Sakura suddenly burst out, louder than usual. "Oh, er… Hi, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said awkwardly, her emotions fluctuating violently. Ino's words suddenly rang in her head once again.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke was late too, you know. And Kakashi-sensei's not here yet."

Sakura whirled on the blonde, blaming him for all of her present troubles. "Where were you, you idiot?!"

Naruto backed up slightly, not forgetful of Sakura's very-scary kick at Kakashi's baby makers. "We were catching a quick bite at Ichiraku's," He said, holding up his hands defensively.

Sakura suddenly whirled on Sasuke, betrayal and hurt evident on her face. "Y-y-you had lunch? W-without me?" Naruto and Sasuke sweatdropped. Sakura was bipolar: Suspicion confirmed.

"Um… well…" Sasuke began somewhat nervously, remembering the same incident playing through Naruto's mind. "You ran off so quickly, and you know how Naruto is. He just wouldn't stop bugging me."

Some part of Naruto was impressed at how cool Sasuke could stay, even under pressure like that. The other 99.99% of him was ready to kill the Uchiha for throwing him under the bus.

"Oh," Sakura said, somewhat mollified. Suddenly, she whirled onto Naruto, death again flashing in her eyes. "Naruto, you–"

Before she could finish, a nonchalant voice greeted the team. "Yo! How're you all?"

_Saved!_ Naruto thought in immense relief.

"About time you showed up!" Sakura shouted out, an edgy emotional quality to her voice. Kakashi could tell something was bothering the girl, but decided to leave it be.

"Sorry about that," Kakashi said in a tone that clearly indicated he wasn't very sorry at all. "I had to stop to help an old lady with her groceries, you see…"

"Liar!" Sakura screeched, her anger redirected onto her chronically late sensei. "You're always late, and then you always lie about it!"

Kakashi just raised his hands placatingly, his eye crinkling in a half apology of sorts. "I've got the report here. Let's turn it in, shall we?"

Sasuke just sighed and led the way through the door. Naruto just smirked in amusement and followed Sasuke. Sakura followed reluctantly, her emotions still a jumble.

As the team entered the Hokage's office, they could hear words being exchanged inside. The sight that greeted them was certainly a surprise. It was Asuma's team. Asuma looked fine, but Choji had a nasty bruise on the side of his head and Ino had a pretty deep looking gash in her arm. Asuma was speaking.

"… So I brought the team back. I believe that this mission was mis-categorized," Asuma glared slightly at Tazuna, who quailed a bit. "As a result, my genin were injured." At this, Ino seemed to grumble a bit, but held her tongue. "I request that this mission be recategorized as a B-Rank and given to a chunin team."

The Sandaime looked thoughtful. "By your field report, I agree that the mission will have to be upgraded." Tazuna looked dejected.

"But please, kind sirs! I'm from a poor village in Wave Country! We don't have much money, and we're being oppressed by an evil businessman called Gato! If I don't finish the bridge connecting Wave to the mainland, we'll remain under his thumb forever!" Tazuna pleaded desperately.

Asuma and the Sandaime sighed. And here lay the crux of the matter. Finally, the Third came to a decision. "Alright, Tazuna-san. The way I see it, you require our assistance, and we are willing to assist, but we will need to compensated accordingly. You will have to wait, though for a chunin team to become available."

"But time is of the utmost importance!" Tazuna began, before being cut off by Asuma.

"And you may have saved time if you didn't lie about the dangers of your mission!"

"But I'm alright, Asuma-sensei!" Ino cried out. "We should've just kept going."

"Ino! Enough. We've had this conversation before," Asuma said quietly, not wishing to get into an argument with his genin in front of the Hokage, his father.

But Naruto saw this as the prime opportunity. He glanced at Sasuke. _This is it! B-Rank! Here I come!_

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he picked up Naruto's intentions. Though he wouldn't admit it, he wanted this too.

"Wait, wait! I think I have a solution!" Naruto piped up, as all eyes swiveled onto the blonde genin. Seeing that Kakashi was about to say something, Naruto hurried on. "Seriously, it's a good idea. The old drunk," Naruto gestured at Tazuna, who seemed to take offense, but said nothing, "Needs a chunin team, but he doesn't have the money and we don't have the team. So, I say that Asuma-sensei's team and our team go together for the same pay."

Hiruzen sighed as he thought about this arrangement. "Naruto–"

"Come on, Jii-san!" Naruto exclaimed. "It's perfect! We get the experience, the money, and we have two jonin on the mission! More than capable of handling the tougher ninja, right?"

Ino, seeing her chance, spoke up. "I agree with Naruto." Everybody in the room turned to her as if she had just sprouted a third head. Ino, suddenly realizing what that sounded like, tried to backpedal. "What I mean to say is that I think it's a good idea for both teams to go! This was our mission first, and maybe it's a little more dangerous than what we first expected, but I'd rather finish this mission with help rather than hand it off to some chunin team!"

Sakura looked at her rival in new eyes. She may not have liked Ino's words earlier, but her rival had backbone. It was something deserving of respect.

Asuma looked at his students, thinking on the matter. His kids had steel, there was no doubt about it. And as much as he hated to see them getting hurt, it was a part of the ninja life. Besides, if he were being completely honest with himself, he had taught his genin well. With a little assistance, they would be ready. Especially with Kakashi around. Maybe he could even get the guy to train his students for a little bit, take off some of the workload.

Releasing a big sigh for dramatic effect, Asuma made eye contact with his father. "I guess that what Ino says has a point. I don't mind continuing this mission if the Kakashi's team and the rest of my team want to go."

Shikamaru groaned. "If I say no, Ino won't stop bothering me for a month. I'll never get any peaceful time in. But if I go on the mission, I could get injured and possibly die. How troublesome. I guess I'm in." Naruto smirked as he saw Ino nearly pound Shikamaru into the ground. Classic.

Choji looked at his sensei and remembered the abject terror that he had felt when he had been about to die. He didn't ever want to experience that again. But then he remembered the way that Shikamaru and Ino had saved him. He didn't want to leave his teammates hanging either. What if they died because he wasn't there to cover their backs? That sealed it for Choji. "I'm with Shikamaru on this," He said cheerily, before whipping out another bag of chips from his endless supply.

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look. _Boo to the yah! Believe it!_ Naruto conveyed through his facial expression. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and suppressed the urge to grunt.

Hiruzen sighed before turning to Kakashi. "Well, Kakashi. What about you and your team?"

Kakashi was still for a moment, also thinking about the dangers. His genin team was good, but were they ready for a B-Rank? And moreover, Tazuna-san did need the help. And Naruto. Would he be in danger outside of the village? Of course he would. Would he be able to protect the boy? Would he be able to protect himself? Sasuke? Sakura? They too would be in danger.

"Well, I'm alright with it," Kakashi began with an eye crinkle. Seeing Naruto about to start leaping and dancing for joy continued, "If my team is alright with the possibility of dying on this mission."

Everybody in the room was taken aback by the seriousness in Kakashi's words. Naruto and Sasuke shared another look, one that didn't escape the notice of the Third, Iruka, Kakashi, or Asuma. _Interesting. Their bond is stronger than what it seems_, each thought.

Surprisingly, Sasuke was the first to speak. "An Uchiha never backs down from a challenge," He said simply.

"Hn!" Naruto grunted enthusiastically in agreement, causing Sasuke to glare balefully at his friend. "I'm not going to die before I'm Hokage! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi smiled and nodded, expecting those responses. He looked at Sakura. "Well, how about it, Pinky?"

Sakura glared at her sensei with white hot anger. He did NOT just call her Pinky in public! Then she thought again about dying. She just couldn't… But Sasuke-kun… and Naruto, somewhat unfortunately, both said yes. She didn't want Sasuke-kun to think she was weak. And Ino too. She couldn't lose to Ino! "I think we can do it," Sakura finally said.

"Good, then it's settled," Kakashi said cheerfully, looking to Asuma, who nodded in reply. The Third looked thoughtful before giving Kakashi a meaningful glance. _I sincerely hope you know what you're doing_. In the end though, Hiruzen nodded.

Kakashi nodded gravely, conveying a seriousness between him and the Hokage. He would not betray the Sandaime's trust, not in such an important matter.

Suddenly, an explosive sound burst out. "Oh thank you! Thank you! You have no idea what this means to me, or my countrymen in Wave!" Tazuna exclaimed gratefully, unleashing a breath that he had been holding the entire time.

Naruto smirked. "Hey, you old drunk! If you had chosen our team the first time around, this wouldn't have ever happened, you know!"

At this, Ino took offense. "You idiot! Are you implying that we're weak or something! I could kick your butt into next week!"

"Gotta catch me first!" Naruto exclaimed before dashing out of the office and back to his apartment to start packing. Sasuke just smirked before following. All of his stuff was at Naruto's. Sakura rolled her eyes before asking Kakashi what she ought to pack. Shikamaru and Choji just stared. Blondes. How troublesome. Asuma chuckled, before turning serious. He hoped his team would be able to handle themselves this time. Iruka, who had remained quiet this entire time, remained silent. He would trust the Hokage's judgement, even if he didn't like it. The Sandaime hid his worry well. Naruto leaving the village would make him a target, but he would be safe enough. Hopefully.

"Na-na-na-na-na!" Naruto's voice suddenly rang out from the street as Ino chased after him, screaming for him to stop. Tazuna suddenly hoped that he wasn't making the last mistake of his life.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Short-ish chapter, but just wanted to get this out before the workload got insane at school. As a warning, don't expect an update soon. Sorry about that, but I still do hope you enjoy the chapter and review. Peace out!


End file.
